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Research Article

High-performance carbon nanotube/polyaniline artificial yarn muscles working in biocompatible environments

Jian Qiao1,2,3,§, Yulong Wu1,§, Chengfeng Zhu1, Lizhong Dong1, Kunjie Wu1, Yulian Wang1, Wei Yang1, Min Li3, Jiangtao Di1( ), Qingwen Li1( )
Key Laboratory of Multifunctional Nanomaterials and Smart Systems, Advanced Materials Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Power Transmission Technology, State Grid Smart Grid Research Institute Co. Ltd., Beijing 102209, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Aerospace Materials and Performance, Ministry of Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

§ Jian Qiao and Yulong Wu contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

A biocompatible and implantable carbon nanotube/polyaniline (CNT/PANI) yarn artificial muscle has been fabricated by a soaking-polymerization method. The muscle can effectively work and generate large stroke and stress under low driving voltage in biocompatible inorganic saline solutions and succus, which is suitable for bionic applications such as implantable muscles, soft exoskeletons, and underwater robots.

Abstract

Implantable artificial muscles are of great importance for muscle function restoration and physical augmentation but are still challenging. Herein, we report an artificial muscle by soaking-polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) inside a carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn. Working in aqueous biocompatible solutions, the yarn muscle generates a large contractile stroke of 17% and high isometric stress of 8 MPa at voltages lower than 2 V. The excellent performance can be ascribed to the large actuation volume that is enabled by the fast electrochemical redox of PANI confined in a coiled yarn structure. The actuation performance outperforms that of previously reported aqueous artificial yarn muscles. Moreover, the yarn muscle can work well and maintain excellent actuating performance in other biocompatible solutions such as normal saline and Na2SO4 aqueous solution, which makes the CNT/PANI yarn muscles suitable for implantable bionic applications. Finally, a biomimetic arm was fabricated to demonstrate the applications of the CNT/PANI yarn artificial muscle in implantable muscle, underwater robots, and soft exoskeletons.

Keywords

carbon nanotubepolyanilinebiocompatibleimplantableartificial muscle

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 3,
March 2023
Pages 4143-4151
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4910-5
Cite this article:
Qiao J, Wu Y, Zhu C, et al. High-performance carbon nanotube/polyaniline artificial yarn muscles working in biocompatible environments. Nano Research, 2023, 16(3): 4143-4151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4910-5
Topics:
Carbon
Part of a topical collection:
Women’s Special Issue: Nanomaterials: Preparation, Applications, and ChallengesWomen’s special issuse in nanomaterials

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Received: 27 May 2022
Revised: 29 July 2022
Accepted: 15 August 2022
Published: 17 September 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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