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年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该奖项的研究目的是更全面地了解碳纳米管-液晶弹性体（LCE）纳米复合材料及其驱动行为。在LCE中添加少量适当功能化的碳纳米管将创建一类新型的碳纳米管-LCE致动器，该致动器可以通过电场、电焦耳加热和远程红外辐射进行激发，具有优异的致动性能和改进的机械性能。纯LCE执行器只能通过改变其周围环境的温度来执行。为了使碳纳米管在LCE基体中均匀分散，实现碳纳米管与LCE之间的强耦合，需要在碳纳米管表面合理地加入各种功能材料。研究碳纳米管的化学性质和负载对碳纳米管- lce纳米复合材料结构和材料性能的影响。研究了CNT-LCE致动器在电场和远程红外辐射等不同刺激下的致动行为。对这种新型碳纳米管- lce复合材料的深入了解将对智能材料领域产生重大影响。具有各种特性的CNTs与lce之间的强协同作用可以产生许多新的特性和功能，并在致动器、人造肌肉、微泵和微电机中得到实际应用。技术成果将与行业合作伙伴分享，所获得的知识将被整合到新开设的课程中，以教育学生纳米材料日益增长的重要性。特别的重点将放在发展研究经验，为学生的代表性不足的群体和初中/高中学生就读于各种科学项目在威斯康星大学介绍纳米技术的概念，扩大他们对科学的兴趣。