Efficient, Absorption-Powered Artificial Muscles Based on Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Yarns
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Research Online University of Wollongong Research Online Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers Australian Institute for Innovative Materials 1-1-2015 Efficient, absorption-powered artificial muscles based on carbon nanotube hybrid yarns Marcio D. Lima University of Texas Mohammad W. Hussain University of Texas at Dallas Geoffrey M. Spinks University of Wollongong, [email protected] Sina Naficy University of Wollongong, [email protected] Daniela Hagenasr University of Texas See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/aiimpapers Part of the Engineering Commons, and the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Lima, Marcio D.; Hussain, Mohammad W.; Spinks, Geoffrey M.; Naficy, Sina; Hagenasr, Daniela; Bykova, Julia S.; Tolly, Derrick; and Baughman, Ray H., "Efficient, absorption-powered artificial muscles based on carbon nanotube hybrid yarns" (2015). Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers. 1464. https://ro.uow.edu.au/aiimpapers/1464 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Efficient, absorption-powered artificial muscles based on carbon nanotube hybrid yarns Abstract A new type of absorption-powered artificial muscle provides high performance without needing a temperature change. These muscles, comprising coiled carbon nanotube fibers infiltrated with silicone rubber, can contract up to 50% to generate up to 1.2 kJ kg−1. The drive mechanism for actuation is the rubber swelling during exposure to a nonpolar solvent. Theoretical energy efficiency conversion can be as high as 16%. Keywords powered, nanotube, yarns, artificial, efficient, hybrid, absorption, muscles, carbon Disciplines Engineering | Physical Sciences and Mathematics Publication Details Lima, M. Dias., Hussain, M. W., Spinks, G. M., Naficy, S., Hagenasr, D., Bykova, J. S., Tolly, D. & Baughman, R. H. (2015). Efficient, absorption-powered artificial muscles based on carbon nanotube hybrid arnsy . Small, 11 (26), 3113-3118. Authors Marcio D. Lima, Mohammad W. Hussain, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Sina Naficy, Daniela Hagenasr, Julia S. Bykova, Derrick Tolly, and Ray H. Baughman This journal article is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/aiimpapers/1464 DOI: 10.1002/((please add manuscript number)) Article type: Communication Efficient, Absorption-Powered Artificial Muscles Based on Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Yarns Márcio Dias Lima, Mohammad W. Hussain, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Sina Naficy, Daniela Hagenasr, Julia S. Bykova, Derrick Tolly, and Ray H. Baughman* Dr. M. D. Lima, M. W. Hussain, D. Hagenasr, Dr. J. S. Bykova, D. Tolly, Prof. R. H. Baughman The Alan G MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute The University of Texas at Dallas 800 West Campbell Road BE26 Richardson, Texas 75080, USA E-mail: [email protected] Dr. S. Naficy, Prof. G. M. Spinks School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science University of Wollongong Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia D. Tolly LINTEC Nano-Science and Technology Center 990 N. Bowser Road, Suite 800 Richardson, Texas 75081, USA Keywords: artificial muscle, carbon nanotube yarn, absorption-powered muscle, coiled muscle, tensile actuator Thermally driven, twisted carbon nanotube yarns and twisted high strength polymer fibers generate impressive tensile actuation, providing large strokes and vastly exceeding the work and power capabilities of natural skeletal muscle. However, operating temperatures can be high when giant strokes are required and energy conversion efficiencies are presently below 2%. We here report chemically powered artificial muscles that provide high performance without requiring a temperature change. These muscles, comprising twisted and coiled carbon nanotube fiber infiltrated with silicone rubber, can contract up to 50%, generate up to 1.2 kJ kg-1 (1 MJ m3) of mechanical energy and support up to 45 MPa of mechanical load. The drive mechanism for actuation is rubber swelling during exposure to a non-polar solvent. During solvent absorption, which can be completed in less than 0.25 sec, the helical 1 structure of the coiled fibers converts the expansion of rubber inside the yarn into contraction along the coil axis, thereby allowing a full cycle of actuation at 1 Hz, while a 25 m thick and 20 mm long coiled fiber lifts a 23,000 times heavier load than it’s liquid-free weight. This new actuation mechanism also exhibits a natural catch state, so energy is not required to retain actuator stroke. Scalability of muscle yarns over a 20 fold diameter range is demonstrated. The theoretical conversion efficiency between chemical and mechanical energy is estimated, based on experimental results and the initial and final states of the system, to be as high as 16%. Coiled carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns and polymer fibers have been used as reversible, large stroke, high power and high work-capacity artificial muscles.[1,2,3] The nanoscale helical topology of these systems enables conversion of yarn or fiber volume change to torsional actuation, which drives large-stroke tensile actuation of coiled muscles. Such mechanism for thermally or electrothermally driven actuators can generate strokes of 5-10% and a contractile work capacity of 1.36 kJ kg-1 for paraffin-wax-filled CNT yarns[1] and above 30% stroke and 2.48 kJ kg-1 contractile work capacity for highly twisted nylon-6,6 fibers.[3] These work capacities greatly exceed that generated by natural skeletal muscle (39 J kg-1),[4] but large temperature changes are needed to produce giant strokes and the efficiency of thermal to mechanical energy conversion is presently low (< 2%). Chemically powered artificial muscles offer potential solutions to these two problems, although fuel-powered actuators have not yet provided performance that matches or exceeds in all aspects the performance of natural muscle. The gravimetric energy density of liquid fuel greatly exceeds that of batteries, meaning that direct conversion of chemical energy to mechanical energy is the preferred mechanism for mobile systems. While combustion engines involve major heat generation, natural muscle efficiently converts chemical energy to mechanical power with only minor temperature rise (about 40% efficiency).[5] Isothermal polymer actuators using chemical species to change volume can mimic natural muscle 2 function. Expanding gels that respond to changes in pH or ionic strength can generate very large strokes, but have low load supporting capabilities and are slow to respond unless diffusion distances are engineered to be short.[6] Systems utilizing dimensional changes produced by absorption and desorption of swelling solvents have been used to produce linear, bending[7] or torsional actuation.[8] Fast response can be achieved using highly porous materials[9] or very thin structures.[8] Fuel-powered muscles that utilize the chemical energy of combustion, rather than the much smaller energy of solvent-induced swelling, have been demonstrated, but either the muscle stroke was small or actuation was by thermo-chemical processes, which restricted the realizable energy conversion efficiencies.[10] We here describe a new type of solvent-driven actuator that uses a helically twisted nanofiber yarn to convert the volumetric expansion of a contained guest material into a large tensile contraction, thereby providing strokes and contractile work capacities exceeding natural muscle. These materials exploit the same mechanism first shown for coiled carbon nanotubes yarns filled with paraffin wax[1] and later for highly twisted polymeric fibers.[3] Volume expansion of a guest material within a CNT yarn or of a twisted polymer fiber causes reversible untwist, as first demonstrated for electrochemically-driven neat CNT yarns.[11] Due to the geometry of the coiled yarn or fiber, the torque generated by yarn or fiber untwist acts to pull adjacent coils together, providing the ability to do work by exploiting contraction along the coil axis. In previous examples, the volume change of the working material was primarily driven by thermal expansion. We here explore solvent sorption and desorption that allows nearly isothermal operation. Since our system also responds thermally, so we are able to compare the efficiency of conversion of heat or chemical energy to mechanical energy in the same system. A cross-linked elastomer was chosen as the solvent exchanging guest material in the hybrid CNT yarn muscles. In contact with a solvent, some cross-linked elastomers can provide volumetric swelling of up to 400%,[12] which is considerably larger than the ~30% 3 volume increase when paraffin wax is heated to 200°C. Equilibrium swelling in elastomers is reached when there is a balance between the reduction of free energy due to the mixing of the cross-linked polymer and the solvent and the elastic energy necessary to deform (expand) the polymer. The mixing free energy of a solvent-polymer pair is characterized by the Flory- Huggins Chi parameter (χ) and we have chosen a range of solvents with different χ for the silicone rubber guest material, with χ determined from free swelling experiments (Supporting Information). Hybrid carbon nanotubes yarn was produced by infiltrating