title: Hierarchically arranged helical fibre actuators driven by solvents and vapours.
abstract: Mechanical responsiveness in many plants is produced by helical organizations of cellulose microfibrils. However, simple mimicry of these naturally occurring helical structures does not produce artificial materials with the desired tunable actuations. Here, we show that actuating fibres that respond to solvent and vapour stimuli can be created through the hierarchical and helical assembly of aligned carbon nanotubes. Primary fibres consisting of helical assemblies of multiwalled carbon nanotubes are twisted together to form the helical actuating fibres. The nanoscale gaps between the nanotubes and micrometre-scale gaps among the primary fibres contribute to the rapid response and large actuation stroke of the actuating fibres. The compact coils allow the actuating fibre to rotate reversibly. We show that these fibres, which are lightweight, flexible and strong, are suitable for a variety of applications such as energy-harvesting generators, deformable sensing springs and smart textiles.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Peining
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Yifan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Sisi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Xuemei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Shaowu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Daoyong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Huisheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*; D013784:Textiles / Q000032:analysis; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D012997:Solvents