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V2O5 nanofibre sheet actuators

Nature Materials volume 2, pages 316–319 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Vanadium oxides, such as V2O5, are promising for lithium-ion batteries1,2, catalysis3, electrochromic devices4,5 and sensors6,7. Vanadium oxides were proposed more than a decade ago for another redox-dependent application: the direct conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy in actuators (artificial muscles)8. Although related conducting polymer8,9 and carbon nanotube actuators10 have been demonstrated, electromechanical actuators based on vanadium oxides have not be realized. V2O5 nanofibres6,11 and nanotubes12 provide the potential advantages of low-cost synthesis by sol–gel routes and high charging capacity and long cycle life13,14. Here, we demonstrate electromechanical actuation for obtained high modulus V2O5 sheets comprising entangled V2O5 nanofibres. The high surface area of these V2O5 sheets facilitates electrochemical charge injection and intercalation that causes the electromechanical actuation. We show that the V2O5 sheets provide high Young's modulus, high actuator-generated stress, and high actuator stroke at low applied voltage.

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Figure 1: Images of V2O5 nanofibres and sheets.
Figure 2: Strain generation of a V2O5 nanofibre sheet actuator.
Figure 3: Stress–strain curve under tensile load for a free-standing V2O5 sheet.
Figure 4: Generated stress (a) and applied potential (b) for a V2O5 nanofibre sheet as a function of time.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to M. Schmid, U. Waizmann, M. Riek and T. Reindl for technical assistance and to M. Burghard and X. C. Shen for helpful discussions. This work was partially supported by the Defense Advanced Projects Agency grants N00173-99-2000 and MDA 972-02-C-0005. G.G. and G.T.K. thank the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for support. Additional support from the Robert A. Welch Foundation is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart, D-70569, Germany

    Gang Gu, Michael Schmid, Po-Wen Chiu, Andrew Minett, Jerôme Fraysse, Gyu-Tae Kim & Siegmar Roth

  2. Lightwave R&D Division, JDS Uniphase Corporation, 200 Ludlow Drive, Ewing, 08638, New Jersey, USA

    Mikhail Kozlov

  3. The Chemistry Department and NanoTech Institute, The University of Texas at Dallas, P.O. Box 830688, BE 26, Richardson, 75083-0688, Texas, USA

    Edgar Muñoz & Ray H. Baughman

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  1. Gang Gu
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  2. Michael Schmid
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  10. Ray H. Baughman
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Correspondence to Gang Gu, Siegmar Roth or Ray H. Baughman.

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Gu, G., Schmid, M., Chiu, PW. et al. V2O5 nanofibre sheet actuators. Nature Mater 2, 316–319 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat880

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