Scientists have developed a new type of shrinkable fiber

According to foreign media reports, scientists have recently developed a shrinkable fiber that can be used in robots, prostheses, or other mechanical and biomedical applications.

A paper published in the journal Science by the MIT research team stated: "Although many different methods are used to manufacture artificial muscles, including hydraulic systems, servo motors, shape memory metals and polymers that respond to stimuli, They all have limitations, including high weight or slow response time. The fiber-based material we developed is very light and responds very quickly. "

The researchers used fiber drawing technology to combine two different polymers into a single fiber. The key to this process is to combine two materials with very different thermal expansion coefficients to ensure that they have different expansion rates when heated.

At the same time, these two polymers are respectively a very stretchable cyclic copolymer elastomer and a harder thermoplastic polyethylene, which ensures that the fibers can be stretched at the same time as the fibers have a stronger hardness. Through testing, this fiber is still strong after repeating the process of 10,000 contractions and expansions.

The researchers explained: "The size of this fiber is very wide, from a few microns (one millionth of a meter) to a few millimeters (one thousandth of a meter) wide, and it is easy to mass produce, and the length can reach hundreds of meters. , And a single fiber can provide a load of up to 650 times its own weight. "

"It is also possible to" program "to customize the degree of tension that occurs when the fiber is heated. This allows the material to be precisely adjusted to the amount of force required and the amount of temperature change required to trigger that force."

"The possibilities of this material are practically unlimited, because almost any combination of two materials can produce different thermal expansion rates, which leaves a vast space for exploring more different combinations."