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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Simultaneous Synthesis of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene in a Magnetically-enhanced Arc Plasma
Published on: February 2, 2012
Large-Stroke Electrochemical Carbon Nanotube/Graphene Hybrid Yarn Muscles
Jian Qiao1,2, Jiangtao Di2, Susheng Zhou2
1School of Materials Science and Engineering and Key Laboratory of Aerospace Materials and Performance, Ministry of Education, Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Artificial muscles are reported in which reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is trapped in the helical corridors of a carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn. When electrochemically driven in aqueous electrolytes, these coiled CNT/rGO yarn muscles can contract by 8.1%, which is over six times that of the previous results for CNT yarn muscles driven in an inorganic electrolyte (1.3%). They can contract to provide a final stress of over 14 MPa, which is about 40 times that of natural muscles. The hybrid yarn muscle shows a unique catch state, in which 95% of the contraction is retained for 1000 s following charging and subsequent disconnection from the power supply. Hence, they are unlike thermal muscles and natural muscles, which need to consume energy to maintain contraction. Additionally, these muscles can be reversibly cycled while lifting heavy loads.
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