Shape programming of polymeric based electrothermal actuator (ETA) via artificially induced stress relaxation.

ABSTRACT: Electrothermal actuators (ETAs) are a new generation of active materials that can produce different motions from thermal expansion induced by Joule heating. It is well-known that the degree of deformation is determined by the amount of Joule heating and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the material. Previous works on polymeric ETAs are strongly focused on increasing electrical conductivity by utilizing super-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets. This allows greater deformation for the same drive voltage. Despite these accomplishments with low-voltage actuation, many of the ETAs were constructed to have basic geometries such as a simple cantilever shape. In this paper, it was discovered that shape of polymeric ETA can be programmed into a desired configuration by applying an in

SUBMITTER: Sun YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685997 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature