Material Increases Volume by 10,000% When Electrified
RandomFactor writes:
Scientists in Sweden and Belgium have discovered a new material that expands (or contracts) by orders of magnitude in response to application of a weak electric current.
When placed in an electrolyte solution, the material expands by a factor of 100 in response to a weak positive electrical pulse. A negatively charged pulse causes the material to return to its original volume.
In follow up experiments, scientists insulated a wire with the new material. When electricity was run through the wire, the thin film of polymer absorbed water and converted to a rapidly expanding gel. When scientists repeated stronger electrical pulses, the gel expanded to a volume 300 percent larger than the film's original size.
Until now, researchers have not been successful in creating a material that was able to change volume anywhere near this significantly in response to an electric current.
There are myriad potential applications for such a substance across disciplines.
If integrated into a sponge or filter, scientists suggest the new material can manipulate via electricity to control the passage of different sized particles.
"We can control the pore size of a filter electronically, and potentially actively control the size of particles that pass through," Magnus Berggren, professor in organic electronics and director of the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linkiping University, said in a news release.
"This means that the properties of this smart filter can be dynamically changed to allow different types or different sizes of particle to pass through. This function can be used for sieving, filtration, purification, and in process chemistry. It may also have applications in medicine and biochemistry," [Magnus Berggren, professor in organic electronics and director of the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linkiping University] said.
Another possibility might be in synthetic muscles for robots and prosthetic limbs, where current research relies on activation using other methods such as heat.
Journal Reference
J. Gladisch et al., Reversible Electronic Solid-Gel Switching of a Conjugated Polymer, Advanced Science, p. 1901144, Oct. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201901144
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