Nano Letters
Nano Letters
5 years ago

Semiordered Hierarchical Metallic Network for Fast and Large Charge-Induced Strain

Semiordered Hierarchical Metallic Network for Fast and Large Charge-Induced Strain
Chuan Cheng, Lukas Lührs, Jörg Weissmüller, Martin Ritter, Tobias Krekeler
Nanoporous metallic actuators for artificial muscle applications are distinguished by combining the low operating voltage, which is otherwise reserved for polymer-based actuators with interesting values of strain amplitude, strength, and stiffness that are comparable of those of piezoceramics. We report a nanoporous metal actuator with enhanced strain amplitude and accelerated switching. Our 3D macroscopic metallic muscle has semiordered and hierarchical nanoporous structure, in which μm-sized tubes align perpendicular with the sample surface, while nm-sized ligaments consist of the tube walls. This nanoarchitecture combines channels for fast ion transportation with large surface area for charge storage and strain generation. The result is a record reversible strain amplitude of 1.59% with a strain rate of 8.83 × 10–6 s–1 in the field of metallic based actuators. A passive hydroxide layer is self-grown on the metal surface, which not only contributes a supercapacitive layer, but also stabilizes the nanoporous structure against coarsening, which guarantees sustainable actuation beyond ten-thousand cycles.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01526

DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01526

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