Application of Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composite to Electrothermal Actuator
Application of Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Polymer Composite to Electrothermal Actuator
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DOI：
10.5772/62509
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发表时间：
2016-07
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
K. Shirasu;G. Yamamoto;T. Hashida
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
K. Shirasu;G. Yamamoto;T. Hashida
电热双晶片致动器是一种由两层不对称膨胀产生弯曲位移的致动器。驱动性能在很大程度上取决于两层材料之间的热膨胀系数（CTE）的差异。由于传统上使用的双晶片材料具有正的CTE值，因此由于其相对较低的CTE差异，产生的位移受到限制。目前，碳纳米管/聚合物复合致动器的合成和表征是研究热点。碳纳米管因其优异的电学、热学和力学性能而备受关注。此外，对碳纳米管轴向负CTE值的分析研究表明，在聚合物材料中加入碳纳米管后，平行于碳纳米管排列方向的复合材料CTE将大幅降低。在本章中，讨论了一种测定碳纳米管轴向CTE的实验方法。基于这一结果，我们展示了一种电热双晶片致动器，该致动器使用对齐的碳纳米管增强环氧复合材料和薄铝箔，具有大的弯曲位移和高的力输出。性能特征包括功率和每单位体积的功输出与频率也进行了审查。
Electrothermal bimorph actuators have been widely researched, comprising two layers with asymmetric expansion that generate a bending displacement. Actuation performance greatly relies upon the difference of the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) between the two material layers. Since traditionally used bimorph materials have positive CTE values, the generated displacements are restricted because of their relatively low CTE difference. Currently, the synthesis and characterization of carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composite actuators are topics of intense research activity. CNTs have been attracting much interest because of their superior electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. In addition, the negative CTE value of CNTs in the axial direction has been investigated analytically, leading one to expect that the CTE of the composites in a direction parallel to the CNT alignment will drastically decrease by containing the aligned CNTs into polymer materials. In this chapter, an experimen‐ tal method for determining the CTE of a CNT in the axial direction is discussed. Based on this result, we demonstrate an electrothermal bimorph actuator having a large bending displacement and high force output using an aligned CNT-reinforced epoxy composite and thin aluminum foil. Performance characteristics including power and work output per unit volume versus frequency are also reviewed.