Issue 23, 2018

Photo-driven nanoactuators based on carbon nanocoils and vanadium dioxide bimorphs

Abstract

Photo-driven actuators are highly desirable in various smart systems owing to the advantages of wireless control and possible actuation by solar energy. Miniaturization of photo-driven actuators is particularly essential in micro-robotics and micro-/nano-electro-mechanical systems. However, it remains a great challenge to build up nano-scale photo-driven actuators with competitive performance in amplitude, response speed, and lifetime. In this work, we developed photo-driven nanoactuators based on bimorph structures of vanadium dioxides (VO2) and carbon nanocoils (CNCs). Activated by the huge structural phase transition of VO2, the photo-driven VO2/CNC nanoactuators deliver a giant amplitude, a fast response up to 9400 Hz, and a long lifetime more than 10 000 000 actuation cycles. Both experimental and simulation results show that the helical structure of CNCs enables a low photo-driven threshold of VO2/CNC nanoactuators, which provides an effective method to construct photo-driven nanoactuators with low power consumption. Our photo-driven VO2/CNC nanoactuators would find potential applications in nano-scale electrical/optical switches and other smart devices.

Graphical abstract: Photo-driven nanoactuators based on carbon nanocoils and vanadium dioxide bimorphs

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 May 2018
Accepted
26 May 2018
First published
28 May 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 11158-11164

Photo-driven nanoactuators based on carbon nanocoils and vanadium dioxide bimorphs

H. Ma, X. Zhang, R. Cui, F. Liu, M. Wang, C. Huang, J. Hou, G. Wang, Y. Wei, K. Jiang, L. Pan and K. Liu, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 11158 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR03622E

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