Computational design of anisotropic nanocomposite actuators

Autor: Ianiro, Alessandro, Berrocal, José Augusto, Tuinier, Remco, Mayer, Michael, Weder, Christoph
Přispěvatelé: Physical Chemistry, ICMS Core
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Chemical Physics, 158(1):014901. American Chemical Society
Journal of Chemical Physics
ISSN: 1089-7690
0021-9606
DOI: 10.1063/5.0129105
Popis: This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the design of a new actuator type made of anisotropic colloidal particles grafted with stimuli-responsive polymer chains. These artificial muscles combine the osmotic actuation principle of stimuli-responsive hydrogels with the structural alignment of colloidal liquid crystals to achieve directional motion. The solubility of the stimuli-responsive polymer in the neutral state, its degree of polymerization, the salt concentration, and the grafting density of the polymer chains on the surface of the colloidal particles are investigated and identified as important for actuator performance and tunability. The computational results suggest that the proposed mechanically active material matches or exceeds the performances of natural muscles and provide the guidelines for the realization of artificial muscles with predetermined actuation properties.
Databáze: OpenAIRE