A Linear Actuation of Polymeric Nanofibrous Bundle for Artificial Muscles

Abstract

Artificial muscle fiber mimicking myofibril is fabricated using electrospun nanofibers of high strength polyurethane followed by controlled in situ chemical polymerization with aniline. The resulting polyurethane(PU)/polyaniline(PANi) hybrid nanofibrous bundle consisting individual nanofibers of about 900 nm diameter responds to an electrical stimuli producing a linear actuation strain as high as 1.65% at an applied stress of 1.03 MPa in 1 M methane sulfonic acid (MSA), the highest strain produced in the nanofibers templated PANi. The hybrid nanofibrous bundle shows an electrical conductivity of about 0.5 S/cm and the electroactivity is imparted by PANi. The biomimetic artificial nanofibrous bundle shows work per cycle (W.C.) efficiency of above 75% for the electrochemical actuation even beyond 100 cycles. The PU/PANi hybrid nanofibrous bundle could be stably actuated without significant creep up to an applied load of 11 mN (2.263 Mpa) beyond which significant creep behavior appears.

Directional electromechanical properties of PEDOT/PSS films containing aligned electrospun nanofibers

“…10 Moreover, composite materials with incorporated highly dense fibrous assemblies have been widely developed, and these materials show significantly different physical and chemical properties, which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or microscopic scale within the finished structure. 11,12 Fiber orientation within natural and artificial composites is a key factor in determining final properties. Several anisotropic functions of aligned nanofiber assemblies have been reported in the literature.…”

Electrically Conducting Polymer-Based Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…Nanofibers of both synthetic polymers (e.g., PCL, PLGA, polyurethane, nylon-6, Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 08:25 25 November 2014 polymethyl methacrylate) and natural polymers (e.g., cellulose, silk fibroin) were coated with PPy, PANi, and PEDOT. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43] As an alternative, CP coating on nanofiber is also possible via vapor-phase polymerization. In this system, chemical oxidants (e.g., ferric chloride, ferric tosylate) are pre-coated or mixed with nanofibers, followed by the polymerization of the monomer vapor on the fibers.…”

Electromechanical deformation sensors based on polyurethane/polyaniline electrospinning nanofibrous mats

“…Prabhakar et al [20] modified PU films with PANi and PANi-AgNp and could render the surface conductive, suggesting potential application in electrochemical biosensors. Gu et al [21] prepared biomimetic artificial nanofibrous bundle using electrospun PU nanofibers deposited with PANi nanoparticles. In smart strain sensor application, Qin et al [22] prepared elastic, conductive PU/PANi fiber by in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of PANi on PU fiber surfaces.…”