Hierarchically Arranged Helical Fiber Actuators Derived from Commercial Cloth

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel hygroscopic cloth actuator made from commercial cloth modified with a 3D nanoporous polymer hybrid, enabling fast water diffusion, large-scale production, and versatile applications like electric generation and smart materials.

Contribution

It introduces the first hygroscopic tunable cloth actuator with hierarchical helical fiber arrangement derived from commercial cloth, combining high strength, flexibility, and tunable motion.

Findings

Achieves large deformation and tunable motion

Demonstrates high tensile strength and flexibility

Enables applications in electric generation and smart materials

Abstract

The first hygroscopic tunable cloth actuator is realized via modification of commercial cloth template by a 3D nanoporous polymer hybrid. The nanoporous hybrid guarantees fast water diffusion and amplifies deformation. The cloth actuator achieves a large-scale size production, tunable motion, high tensile strength and mechanical flexibility with a breadth of utilities (e.g., electric generator and smart materials).