Dual-Stimuli Responsive Carbon Nanotube Sponge-PDMS Amphibious Actuator

A dual-stimuli responsive soft actuator based on the three-dimensional (3D) porous carbon nanotube (CNT) sponge and its composite with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was developed, which can realize both electrothermal and electrochemical actuation. The bimorph actuator exhibited a bending curvature of 0.32 cm−1·W−1 under electrothermal stimulation on land. The displacement of the electrochemical actuator could reach 4 mm under a 5 V applied voltage in liquid. The dual-responsive actuator has demonstrated the applications on multi-functional amphibious soft robots as a crawling robot like an inchworm, a gripper to grasp and transport the cargo and an underwater robot kicking a ball. Our study presents the versatility of the CNT sponge-based actuator, which can be used both on land and in water.

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Three-dimensional porous carbon nanotube sponges for high-performance anodes of microbial fuel cells

Journal of Power Sources ◽

10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.08.021 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 298 ◽

pp. 177-183 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Celal Erbay ◽

Gang Yang ◽

Paul de Figueiredo ◽

Reza Sadr ◽

Choongho Yu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Porous Carbon ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

High Performance ◽

Three Dimensional

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Doping of three-dimensional porous carbon nanotube-graphene-ionic liquid composite into polyaniline for the headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography determination of alcohols

Analytica Chimica Acta ◽

10.1016/j.aca.2016.11.020 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 948 ◽

pp. 48-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Lulu Li ◽

Mian Wu ◽

Yingying Feng ◽

Faqiong Zhao ◽

Baizhao Zeng

Keyword(s):

Gas Chromatography ◽

Ionic Liquid ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Porous Carbon ◽

Solid Phase Microextraction ◽

Solid Phase ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction

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Seamless multimaterial 3D liquid-crystalline elastomer actuators for next-generation entirely soft robots

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.aay8606 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (9) ◽

pp. eaay8606 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yubai Zhang ◽

Zhenhua Wang ◽

Yang Yang ◽

Qiaomei Chen ◽

Xiaojie Qian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Liquid Crystalline ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Thermal Polymerization ◽

Soft Robotics ◽

Chemical Compositions ◽

Soft Robots ◽

Soft Actuator ◽

Wide Range ◽

Metal Welding ◽

Robot Body

Liquid-crystalline elastomers (LCEs) are excellent soft actuator materials for a wide range of applications, especially the blooming area of soft robotics. For entirely soft LCE robots to exhibit high dexterity and complicated performance, several components are typically required to be integrated together in one single robot body. Here, we show that seamless multicomponent/multimaterial three-dimensional (3D) LCE robots can be created via simultaneously welding and aligning LCE materials with different chemical compositions and physical properties without other additives such as tapes and glues (just like metal welding). Both welding and aligning of the LCE materials rely on thermal polymerization of preformed LCE films with reactive acrylate groups. This method provides an easy way to robustly fabricate arbitrary 3D desirable geometries with strongly stable reversible actuations and multifunctionalities, which greatly enlarges and benefits the future applications and manufacturing of LCE soft robots.

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Dual‐Responsive Soft Actuator Based on Aligned Carbon Nanotube Composite/Graphene Bimorph for Bioinspired Applications

Macromolecular Materials and Engineering ◽

10.1002/mame.202100166 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 2100166

Author(s):

Heng Li ◽

Run Li ◽

Kesheng Wang ◽

Ying Hu

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Soft Actuator ◽

Dual Responsive ◽

Carbon Nanotube Composite

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AC Electric Field-Induced Alignment and Long-Range Assembly of Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Inside Aqueous Media

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ◽

10.1166/jnn.2007.871 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 4322-4332 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Zhihui Guo ◽

Jeffery A. Wood ◽

Krista L. Huszarik ◽

Xiaohu Yan ◽

Aristides Docoslis

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotubes ◽

Electrical Resistivity ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Electric Field ◽

Long Range ◽

Applied Voltage ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Field Frequency ◽

Ac Electric Field ◽

Ac Field

The present work examines the behavior of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) inside AC electric fields created by three-dimensional electrodes. The response of carbon nanotubes stably suspended in water with the aid of a nonionic surfactant is monitored by combining microscopic observations with on-line measurements of the suspension resistivity. It is found that polarization effects induced by the externally applied AC electric field on MWCNTs can cause their unidirectional orientation and end-to-end contact that result in formations of spatially distributed, long-range, three-dimensional and electrically conducting structures that span the entire gap between the electrodes. The length of the formed structures, which in the present case was approximately 30 times larger than that of an individual carbon nanotube, can be controlled by adjusting the spacing between the electrodes. The influence of main experimental parameters, namely, MWCNT concentration, applied voltage, AC field frequency, and electrode surface topography on the suspension behavior is experimentally examined. Results are demonstrated for applied voltage values, AC field frequencies, and carbon nanotube concentrations in the range 4–40 Vptp, 10 Hz–5 MHz, and 0.001–2.0 wt%, respectively. While higher electric field strengths accelerate the formation of aligned structures, higher frequency values were found to result in suspensions that exhibit smaller electrical resistivity. Carbon nanotube dispersions exposed to an AC electric field exhibit a 100-fold or more decrease in their electrical resistivity, even when carbon nanotube concentrations as low as 0.005 wt% are used.

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The carbonization of aromatic molecules with three-dimensional structures affords carbon materials with controlled pore sizes at the Ångstrom-level

Communications Chemistry ◽

10.1038/s42004-021-00515-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Tomoki Ogoshi ◽

Yuma Sakatsume ◽

Katsuto Onishi ◽

Rui Tang ◽

Kazuma Takahashi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Porous Carbon ◽

Carbon Materials ◽

Carbon Sources ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Chemical Vapor ◽

Thermal Polymerization ◽

Sodium Ion Battery ◽

Pore Sizes ◽

Aromatic Molecules ◽

Template Methods

AbstractCarbon materials with controlled pore sizes at the nanometer level have been obtained by template methods, chemical vapor desorption, and extraction of metals from carbides. However, to produce porous carbons with controlled pore sizes at the Ångstrom-level, syntheses that are simple, versatile, and reproducible are desired. Here, we report a synthetic method to prepare porous carbon materials with pore sizes that can be precisely controlled at the Ångstrom-level. Heating first induces thermal polymerization of selected three-dimensional aromatic molecules as the carbon sources, further heating results in extremely high carbonization yields (>86%). The porous carbon obtained from a tetrabiphenylmethane structure has a larger pore size (4.40 Å) than those from a spirobifluorene (4.07 Å) or a tetraphenylmethane precursor (4.05 Å). The porous carbon obtained from tetraphenylmethane is applied as an anode material for sodium-ion battery.

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