Advanced Carbon Nanotube-Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Nanocomposites and Their Actuation Properties

先进碳纳米管-液晶弹性体纳米复合材料及其驱动性能

• 批准号: 0856162
• 负责人: Jian Chen
• 金额: $ 31万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-01 至 2012-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0856162&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Advanced; Carbon; Nanotube; Liquid; Crystalline

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The research objective of this award is to more fully understand carbon nanotube (CNT)-liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) nanocomposites and their actuation behaviors. Adding a small amount of properly functionalized CNTs into the LCE will create a new class of CNT-LCE actuators that can be stimulated via an electrical field, electrical Joule heating, and remote IR irradiation with excellent actuation performance and improved mechanical properties. Pure LCE actuators can only be actuated by changing the temperatures of their surroundings. In order to uniformly disperse the CNTs in the LCE matrix and to achieve strong coupling between the CNTs and the LCE, the surfaces of the CNTs will be engineered rationally with various types of functional materials. The effects of CNT chemistry and loading on the structure and the material properties of the CNT-LCE nanocomposites will be established. The actuation behaviors of the CNT-LCE actuators under different stimuli including electrical field and remote IR irradiation will be investigated. A greater understanding of this new class of CNT-LCE composites will have a significant impact on the field of smart materials. The strong synergies between CNTs with various characteristics and LCEs can generate many novel properties and functions, and lead to practical applications in actuators, artificial muscles, micropumps, and micromotors. The technological results will be shared with industry partners, and the knowledge gained will be integrated into newly established courses to educate students about the growing importance of nanomaterials. Particular emphasis will be placed on developing research experiences for students of underrepresented groups and for middle/high school students enrolled in various science programs at UWM to introduce the concept of nanotechnology and to expand their interest in science.

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。 该奖项的研究目标是更充分了解碳纳米管（CNT） - 液晶晶体弹性体（LCE）纳米复合材料及其致动行为。在LCE中添加少量适当的CNT，将创建一类新的CNT-LCE执行器，可以通过电场，电焦耳加热以及具有出色的致动性能和改善的机械性能的远程IR辐照来刺激该类别。纯LCE执行器只能通过改变周围环境的温度来驱动。为了将CNT均匀地分散在LCE矩阵中，并在CNT和LCE之间实现强耦合，CNT的表面将通过各种类型的功能材料合理地进行设计。 CNT化学和负载对CNT-LCE纳米复合材料的结构和材料特性的影响。将研究在不同刺激下的CNT-LCE执行器的致动行为，包括电场和远程IR辐照。对这类新型CNT-LECE复合材料的更多了解将对智能材料领域产生重大影响。具有多种特征和LCE的CNT之间的强大协同作用可以产生许多新颖的特性和功能，并在执行器，人造肌肉，微型泵和微型运动员中实现实际应用。该技术结果将与行业合作伙伴共享，并将获得的知识融合到新成立的课程中，以教育学生纳米材料的重要性。特别强调为代表性不足的群体的学生以及在UWM参加各种科学课程的中/高中学生的学生发展研究经验，以介绍纳米技术的概念并扩大对科学的兴趣。