Conducting Polymer Actuators and Devices

Mammalian muscle is an amazing system of systems with organization elements from the molecular scale to the macroscale. We seek to create novel electrically activated polymers that deliver superior performance to muscle in terms of force, speed, and power efficiency. Our approach is to create molecular mechanical mechanisms that translate electrical events (oxidation and reduction) into large dimensional changes. Conducting polymers are natural materials for this process because they can in principle effectively transport the required charge rapidly throughout a material with low resistive losses. The formation of true materials that display the performance that we aspire to will likely require great complexity similar to natural muscle. We are developing nanostructures to limit diffusion times, mixtures of conductors to minimize resistive losses, and matrix materials to give the proper mechanical stiffness and strength. We maintain active collaborations with Professor Ian Hunter (Mechanical Engineering at MIT) and Professor Nicola Marzari (Materials Science and Engineering at MIT) in this area.