Science

Eco-friendly artificial muscle fibers can produce and store energy

Graphical summary. Comparability of the conceptual diagram and main efficiency of biomass-based synthetic muscle fiber that may produce and retailer vitality. Credit: Chemical Engineering Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.158850

A analysis staff has efficiently developed modern synthetic muscle fibers able to producing and storing vitality. The staff anticipates that these findings may have broad purposes in fields similar to superior textiles, medical robotics, and wearable units. The analysis is published within the Chemical Engineering Journal.

The staff utilized poly(lactic acid) (PLA), an eco-friendly materials derived from crop-based uncooked supplies, and extremely sturdy bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to develop the unreal muscle fibers that mimic the practical and actual muscular tissues. Particularly, they enhanced the standard thermally managed form reminiscence perform to realize considerably improved efficiency. Moreover, the fibers had been engineered as multifunctional supplies with the added perform of manufacturing and storing energy.

PLA is an eco-friendly, biodegradable materials comprised of glucose extracted from corn and sugarcane, and it naturally decomposes underneath particular situations. TPU, alternatively, is a extremely sturdy and resilient materials that’s extensively utilized in varied merchandise, together with industrial sheets, protecting movies for digital units, athletic footwear, and synthetic leather-based.

This examine meticulously managed and optimized the ratio of PLA to TPU and engineered the fiber construction to allow mass production. The specialised twisting course of enhanced the fibers’ energy, making them 4.18 instances stronger than standard form reminiscence fibers.

Moreover, the fibers demonstrated distinctive sturdiness, retaining over 98% of their resilience even after greater than 50 repeated makes use of. Notably, the fibers exhibited outstanding efficiency, withstanding masses as much as 56,000 instances their very own weight.

Along with merely memorizing form, synthetic muscle fibers can generate vitality from utilized strain. Even after greater than 1,000 cycles of repeated charging and discharging, the fibers preserve a secure vitality storage capability, retaining over 90% of their preliminary efficiency.

Senior Researcher Sangkyoo Lim at DGIST stated, “In this study, we have successfully developed a new artificial muscle fiber technology capable of both producing and storing energy. We anticipate its application across various industries, including robotics, advanced textiles, and wearable devices.”

Extra data:
Hye-Jin Web optimization et al, Power harvesting and storage utilizing extremely sturdy Biomass-Based mostly synthetic muscle fibers by way of form reminiscence impact, Chemical Engineering Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.158850

Supplied by
Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology


Quotation:
Eco-friendly synthetic muscle fibers can produce and retailer vitality (2025, January 21)
retrieved 21 January 2025
from https://techxplore.com/information/2025-01-eco-friendly-artificial-muscle-fibers.html

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