Release date: 2015-05-07
A new study published in Applied Physics Letters shows that artificial muscles based on vegetable cells are stretchable and deformed while being curved.
Cutting onions is a chore, especially if you cut the "right" place, even the most experienced chef will go straight to the tissue box. Today, onions not only show their charm in the kitchen, they are also used by researchers at National Taiwan University to create artificial muscles. Unlike the artificial muscles of the past, "onion muscles" can stretch and contract in different directions depending on the loading voltage. In the Applied Physics Letters published by the American Physical Society this week, researchers reported the results.
"Our goal was to develop a microstructure to increase the driving deformation of artificial muscles (ie, the extent to which artificial muscles flexed and stretched under voltage)," said Wen-Pin Shih, leader of the research team. “One day, we found that the structure and size of onion cells are very similar to the microstructures we have been developing.†Shih and graduate student Chien-Chun Chen and colleagues conducted the study.
The epidermis of the onion, which is the thin, brittle, translucent film under the surface of the body, is formed by short, firm cells arranged tightly in the crystal lattice. Shih and his colleagues believe that the epidermal cells of onions are expected to be used to create more flexible artificial muscles that perform complex and difficult movements, such as stretching or contracting while bending. Shih said that the current artificial muscles can only bend or stretch, and the two movements cannot be performed simultaneously.
In the experiment, the researchers first removed the hemicellulose of the onion cells with acid, a protein that increased the hardness of the cell wall, and then plated gold on both sides of the onion epidermis as an electrode. When current is passed through the gold electrode, the onion cells can stretch as muscles.
"We intend to make the thickness of the gold-plated electrodes on both sides different, so that the hardness of the cells on both sides is asymmetrical," Shih said. This asymmetry allows researchers to control muscle response: when low voltage is applied, the onion muscles stretch downwards and bend toward the thick side of the coating. Conversely, when a high voltage is applied, the onion muscles contract upwards and bend toward the thin side of the plating.
“We found that a single-layer lattice structure can produce a unique driving pattern that has never been achieved with artificial muscles in the past,†Shih said.
To prove that artificial muscles can be used to make practical tools, the researchers made two pieces of onion muscles and used it to successfully grip the cotton balls. Researchers have indicated that they hope to further enhance the lifting power of artificial muscles in the future. "Our next step is to reduce the driving voltage and driving force of the onion muscles."
Source: Bio 360
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