Vanadium dioxide is a super-material; it can easily shape shift, but new research suggests it packs "muscle power" as well.
Researchers created a "micro-sized robotic torsional muscle/motor" out of vanadium dioxide; the synthetic muscle is about one-thousand times more powerful than a human's, and can catapult objects that are 50 times its weight a distance up to five times its own length in literally the blink of an eye, a Berkeley Lab news release reported.
""We've created a micro-bimorph dual coil that functions as a powerful torsional muscle, driven thermally or electro-thermally by the phase transition of vanadium dioxide," study leader Junqiao Wu, a physicist who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and the University of California-Berkeley's Department of Materials Science and Engineering., said in the news release. "Using a simple design and inorganic materials, we achieve superior performance in power density and speed over the motors and actuators now used in integrated micro-systems."
The high-demand material can also act as a insulator at low temperatures but becomes a conductor when in an environment of 67 degrees Celsius or higher. This means vanadium dioxide could be extremely useful in electronic and optical devices as well as multi-functional motors and artificial muscles.
"Miniaturizing rotary motors is important for integrated micro-systems and has been intensively pursued over the past decades," Wu said. "The power density of our micro-muscle in combination with its multi-functionality distinguishes it from all current macro- or micro-torsional actuators/motors."
The micro muscles are made from a silicon substrate "V-shaped" bimorph ribbon consisting of chromium and vanadium dioxide.
Once the ribbon is released it turns into a sort-of double helix that can act as either a coil or a proximity sensor.
"Multiple micro-muscles can be assembled into a micro-robotic system that simulates an active neuromuscular system," Wu said. "The naturally combined functions of proximity sensing and torsional motion allow the device to remotely detect a target and respond by reconfiguring itself to a different shape. This simulates living bodies where neurons sense and deliver stimuli to the muscles and the muscles provide motion."
In order to actuate the double-helix coil, the researchers must heat the material. The team believes using an electric current is more effective than heating pads because it allows them the heat "individual micro-muscles."
"With its combination of power and multi-functionality, our micro-muscle shows great potential for applications that require a high level of functionality integration in a small space," Wu said.
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