The demands for new types of artificial muscles continue to grow and novel approaches are being enabled by the advent of new materials and novel fabrication strategies. Self-powered actuators have attracted significant attention due to their ability to be driven by elements in the ambient environment such as moisture. In this study, we demonstrate the use of twisted and coiled wet-spun hygroscopic chitosan fibers to achieve a novel torsional artificial muscle. The coiled fibers exhibited significant torsional actuation where the free end of the coiled fiber rotated up to 1155 degrees per mm of coil length when hydrated. This value is 96%, 362%, and 2210% higher than twisted graphene fiber, carbon nanotube torsional actuators, and coiled nylon muscles, respectively. A model based on a single helix was used to evaluate the torsional actuation behavior of these coiled chitosan fibers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ForoughiJ, SpinksGM, AzizS, MirabediniA, JeiranikhamenehA, WallaceGG, et al.Knitted carbon-nanotube-sheath/spandex-core elastomeric yarns for artificial muscles and strain sensing. ACS Nano, 2016; 10:9129–9135.
2.
MirfakhraiT, MaddenJDW, BaughmanRH. Polymer artificial muscles. Mater Today, 2007; 10:30–38.
3.
SuoZ. Theory of dielectric elastomers. Acta Mech Solida Sin, 2010; 23:549–578.
4.
MirabediniA, ForoughiJ, WallaceGG. Developments in conducting polymer fibres: from established spinning methods toward advanced applications. RSC Adv, 2016; 6:44687–44716.
5.
BahramzadehY, ShahinpoorM. A review of ionic polymeric soft actuators and sensors. Soft Robot, 2014; 1:38–52.
6.
ShahinpoorM, Bar-CohenY, SimpsonJO, SmithJ. Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) as biomimetic sensors, actuators and artificial muscles—a review. Smart Mater Struct, 1998; 7:R15–R30.
ChenG., HoffmanAS. Graft copolymers that exhibit temperature-induced phase transitions over a wide range of pH. Nat, 1995; 373:49–52.
11.
KaewpiromS, BoonsangS. Electrical response characterisation of poly (ethylene glycol) macromer (PEGM)/chitosan hydrogels in NaCl solution. Eur Polym J, 2006; 42:1609–1616.
12.
IonovL. Hydrogel-based actuators: Possibilities and limitations. Biochem Pharmacol, 2014; 17:494–503.
13.
DeSK, AluruNR, JohnsonB, CroneWC, BeebeDJ, MooreJ. Equilibrium swelling and kinetics of pH-responsive hydrogels: Models, experiments, and simulations. J Microelectromech Syst, 2002; 11:544–555.
14.
ShibayamaM, TanakaT. Volume phase transition and related phenomena of polymer gels. Adv Polym Sci, 1993; 109:1–60.
15.
CaiS, SuoZ. Mechanics and chemical thermodynamics of phase transition in temperature-sensitive hydrogels. J Mech Phys Solids, 2011; 59:2259–2278.
16.
ZarzarLD, KimP, AizenbergJ. Bio-inspired design of submerged hydrogel-actuated polymer microstructures operating in response to pH. Adv Mater, 2011; 23:1442–1446.
17.
MartinSJ, CadbyA, MenelleA, OqxOX, CrgD, HorowitzJ. Responsive brushes and gels as components of soft nanotechnology. Faraday Discuss, 2005; 128:55–74.
18.
MooreJS, BauerJM, YuQ, LiuRH, DevadossC, JoB. Functional hydrogel structures for autonomous flow control inside micro fluidic channels. Nat, 2000; 404:588–590.
19.
KarpJM, YeoY, GengW, CannizarroC, YanK, KohaneDS, et al.A photolithographic method to create cellular micropatterns. Biomater, 2006; 27:4755–4764.
20.
ChengJC, MemberS, PisanoAP. Photolithographic process for integration of the biopolymer chitosan into micro/nanostructures. J Microelectromech Syst, 2008; 17:402–409.
21.
AgrawalA, WanasekaraN, ChalivendraV, RahbarN, CalvertP. Strong fiber reinforced hydrogels for biomedical applications. Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC), Troy, NY, 2011, pp. 6–7.
22.
GestosA, WhittenPG, SpinksGM, WallaceGG. Tensile testing of individual glassy, rubbery and hydrogel electrospun polymer nano fibres to high strain using the atomic force microscope. Polym Test, 2013; 32:655–664.
MirabediniA, ForoughiJ, RomeoT, WallaceGG. Development and characterization of novel hybrid hydrogel fibers. Macromol Mater Eng, 2015; 300:1217–1225.
31.
TiwariA, SrivastavaRB, SainiRK, BajpaiAK, MeiHI, MishraSB, et al.Biopolymers: An indispensable tool for biotechnology. In: Atul TiwariRB (ed.). Biotechnology in Biopolymers Developments, Applications and Challenging Areas. London: Smithers Rapra Technology, 2012, pp. 1–16.
32.
IsmailYA, ShinSR, ShinKM, YoonSG, ShonK, KimSISJI, et al.Electrochemical actuation in chitosan/polyaniline microfibers for artificial muscles fabricated using an in situ polymerization. Sens Actuators B, 2008; 129:834–840.
33.
EnriqueS, LariosL. Investigation of Chemo-Mechanical Actuation in Polymer Gels. PhD thesis, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2009.
34.
MirabediniA, ForoughiJ, ThompsonB, WallaceGG. Fabrication of coaxial wet-spun graphene–chitosan bio fibers. Adv Eng Mater, 2015; 18:284–293.
35.
AzizS, NaS, ForoughiJ, BrownHR, SpinksGM. Characterisation of torsional actuation in highly twisted yarns and fibres. Polym Test, 2015; 46:88–97.
36.
KeefeAC, CarmanGP. Thermo-mechanical characterization of shape memory alloy torque tube actuators. Smart Mater Struct, 2000; 9:665–672.
37.
FangY, PenceTJ, TanX. Fiber-directed conjugated-polymer torsional actuator: nonlinear elasticity modeling and experimental validation. IEEE/ASME Trans Mechatron, 2011; 16:656–664.
WuR, NiamatRA, SansburyB, BorjiginM. Fabrication and evaluation of multilayer nanofiber-hydrogel meshes with a controlled release property. Fibers, 2015; 3:296–308.
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
