Making smart materials using electroactive polymers and carbon nanotubes

Electroactive Smart Materials: New Challenges for Control

In this paper, the main objective is to provide an overview of a new class of research problems for the area which is broadly termed smart structures control. To this end, we describe electroactive smart materials and focus on control issues which naturally arise. Such materials, typically nano and micro-polymers, have mechanical properties controlled by an electric field. Unlike existing appro...

Carbon Nanotubes – Imprinted Polymers: Hybrid Materials for Analytical Applications

Selective intercalation of polymers in carbon nanotubes.

A room-temperature, open-air method is devised to selectively intercalate relatively low-molecular-weight polymers (approximately 10-100 kDa) from dilute, volatile solutions into open-end, as-grown, wettable carbon nanotubes with 50-100 nm diameters. The method relies on a novel self-sustained diffusion mechanism driving polymers from dilute volatile solutions into carbon nanotubes and concentr...

Nanocomposites based on conducting polymers and carbon nanotubes: from fancy materials to functional applications.

This review deals with recent progress on the development of nanocomposite materials formed by conducting organic polymers (COPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNs), both from a fundamental and applied point of view. The combination of the unique properties of CNs with COPs makes of these materials interesting multifunctional systems with great potential in many applications such as supercapacitors, se...

Electroactive polymers for sensing

Electromechanical coupling in electroactive polymers (EAPs) has been widely applied for actuation and is also being increasingly investigated for sensing chemical and mechanical stimuli. EAPs are a unique class of materials, with low-moduli high-strain capabilities and the ability to conform to surfaces of different shapes. These features make them attractive for applications such as wearable s...