A soft actuator with a giant bending motion controlled by hydrogen pressure for artificial muscles has been innovated. It resembles a bimetal and is constructed with soft silicone rubber sheets for driving and supporting. The LaNi5 hydrogen storage alloy powder is dispersed in the driving sheet. The reversible motion is observed and operated by hydrogenation and degassing. The giant bending motion of over 4000 ppm of strain was observed from 2 min to 3 h of hydrogenation time. The actuator developed shows a giant bending motion as large as that of a typical shape memory alloy.
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Kim, B. S. , Motai, N. , Yabe, H. , Uchida, H.-H. and Nishi, Y. 2001b. “Load Dependence of Shape Memory Effect of Hydrogen Storage Alloy Bi-polymer,” In: Proceedings of 6th Japan-Korea Joint Symposium on Hydrogen Energy, Kanagawa, Japan, 189-194 .
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Nishi, Y. , Uchida, H. H. and Honjo, T.2004. “Improved Response Time of a Thin Film Hydrogen Storage Alloy Unimorph Structure after Platinum Surface Treatment,”Materials Transactions, 45: 2902-2905 .
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Willems, J. J. G.1984. “Metal Hydride Electrodes Stability of LaNi5-Related Compounds,”Phi. J. Res., 39: 1-94 .
