Abstract
A scalable synthetic muscle has been constructed that transducts nanoscale molecular shape changes into macroscopic motion. The working material, which deforms affinely in response to a pH stimulus, is a self-assembled block copolymer comprising nanoscopic hydrophobic domains in a weak polyacid matrix. A device has been assembled where the muscle does work on a cantilever and the force generated has been measured. When coupled to a chemical oscillator this provides a free running chemical motor that generates a peak power of 20 mW kg 1 by the serial addition of 10 nm shape changes that scales over 5 orders of magnitude. It is the nanostructured nature of the gel that gives rise to the affine deformation and results in a robust working material for the construction of scalable muscle devices.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 73-77 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Nano Letters |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 10 Dec 2005 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |