CAREER: Electroactive Graphene-Polymer System with Extreme Actuation and Tunable Properties

职业：具有极端驱动和可调特性的电活性石墨烯聚合物系统

• 批准号: 1532136
• 负责人: Xuanhe Zhao
• 金额: $ 35.52万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2018-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1532136&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Electroactive; Graphene; Polymer; System

The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to understand and exploit the large deformation, instabilities, and microstructure evolution of electroactive graphene-polymer systems (eGPS) to achieve extremely high actuation stress and strain, along with other novel properties such as superhydrophobicity and tunable wettability. Subject to voltages, existing polymers can reach relatively high levels of either stress or strain, but not both. This imbalance in actuation stress and strain greatly limits the energy density of these polymers and hampers their promising applications. The proposed eGPS innovatively laminates films of polymer blends and large-area graphene with hierarchical patterns. The polymer blends integrate merits of different polymers, while the patterned graphene acts as lightweight transparent electrodes with novel tunable properties. The proposed study will take an integrated experimental and theoretical approach. A multi-field microscopic system invented by the PI will be used to explore electromechanical properties and instabilities of eGPS, and a multi-scale theoretical model will be developed to quantitatively guide the design of new materials and structures.Electroactive graphene-polymer systems represent a new type of soft active material with multiple performance parameters that are superior to natural muscles. These so-called artificial muscles are enabling diverse technologies ranging from robotics and drug delivery to energy harvesting and storage. In particular, artificial muscles promise to greatly improve the quality of life for millions of disabled people by providing affordable devices such as lightweight anthropomorphic prostheses and full-page Braille displays. The broad impact of new artificial muscles is potentially analogous to the impact of piezoelectric ceramics on the global society in the twentieth century. The integrated educational objectives of the project include integration of soft-active-material design into the engineering curriculum, a Research Experience for Teachers program on artificial muscles, and a K-12 program. In addition, students from underrepresented groups will be actively engaged in the project.

该学院早期职业发展（职业）计划奖的研究目标是了解和利用电活性石墨烯聚合物系统（eGPS）的大变形、不稳定性和微观结构演化，以实现极高的驱动应力和应变，以及其他新颖的超疏水性和可调润湿性等特性。在电压作用下，现有聚合物可以达到相对较高水平的应力或应变，但不能同时达到两者。这种驱动应力和应变的不平衡极大地限制了这些聚合物的能量密度，并阻碍了它们有前途的应用。所提出的 eGPS 创新地将聚合物共混物薄膜和具有分层图案的大面积石墨烯层压在一起。该聚合物共混物集成了不同聚合物的优点，而图案化石墨烯则充当具有新颖可调特性的轻质透明电极。拟议的研究将采用综合实验和理论方法。 PI发明的多场微观系统将用于探索eGPS的机电特性和不稳定性，并开发多尺度理论模型来定量指导新材料和结构的设计。电活性石墨烯-聚合物系统代表了新型软质活性材料，多项性能参数优于天然肌肉。 这些所谓的人造肌肉正在实现从机器人和药物输送到能量收集和存储等多种技术。特别是，人造肌肉有望通过提供负担得起的设备（例如轻型拟人假肢和全页盲文显示器）来极大地改善数百万残疾人的生活质量。新型人造肌肉的广泛影响可能类似于压电陶瓷对二十世纪全球社会的影响。该项目的综合教育目标包括将软活性材料设计融入工程课程、人造肌肉教师研究经验项目和 K-12 项目。此外，来自弱势群体的学生也将积极参与该项目。