Tailoring conductive nanofiller alignment for high actuation strain and output force in electroactive polymers.

ABSTRACT: An intrinsic conflict between high deformability and rigidity hinders the development of electroactive polymer (EAP)-based soft robots. Here, we employ an external electric field to align Al₂O₃-coated carbon nanotubes (Al₂O₃@CNTs) in a poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE)) matrix. Compared with pure P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), the thickness strain of nanocomposites with horizontally and vertically aligned Al₂O₃@CNTs increases by 473% and 814%, respectively. It results in a high bending angle up to 215° for their actuator beams. Importantly, the horizontally aligned Al₂O₃@CNTs enhance the local stiffness via 'face-enhanced effect', yielding a high output force per u

SUBMITTER: Zhao F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12638966 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature