Nanoporous carbon actuator and methods of use thereof
View Patent ↗An electrochemically driveable actuator according to one embodiment includes a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition capable of exhibiting charge-induced reversible strain when wetted by an electrolyte and a voltage is applied thereto. An electrochemically driven actuator according to another embodiment includes a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition wetted by an electrolyte; and a mechanism for causing charge-induced reversible strain of the composition. A method for electrochemically actuating an object according to one embodiment includes causing charge-induced reversible strain of a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition wetted with an electrolyte to actuate the object by the strain.
1. An electrochemically driveable actuator, comprising:
a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition capable of exhibiting charge-induced reversible strain when wetted by an electrolyte and a voltage is applied thereto.
2. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 1 , wherein the carbon aerogel forms a homogeneous macroscopic monolith with a volume of greater than about 1 mm 3 .
3. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 1 , wherein the carbon aerogel forms a homogeneous macroscopic monolith with a volume of greater than about 1 cm 3 .
4. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 1 , wherein the carbon aerogel forms a homogeneous macroscopic monolith with a volume of greater than about 10 cm 3 .
5. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises a coating material selected from a list consisting of: W, Ru, Pt, Cu, TiO 2 , and ZnO.
6. An electrochemically driven actuator, comprising:
a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition wetted by an electrolyte; and
a mechanism for causing charge-induced reversible strain of the composition.
7. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the carbon aerogel has a mass-specific surface area of greater than about 2000 m 2 /g.
8. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the carbon aerogel has a mass-specific surface area of greater than about 2800 m 2 /g.
9. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the carbon aerogel has a bimodal pore size distribution comprising macropores having an average diameter of greater than about 50 nm and micropores having an average diameter of less than about 2 nm.
10. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the carbon aerogel includes a network of interconnected primary particles, the primary particle having a characteristic diameter of between about 3 nm and about 25 nm.
11. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the carbon aerogel has a three-dimensional architecture that is comprised of nano-particles of graphene.
12. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the electrolyte is aqueous.
13. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the electrolyte is nonaqueous.
14. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the electrolyte comprises at least one material selected from a list consisting of: NaF, KOH, KCl, H 2 SO 4 , and HClO 4 .
15. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the electrolyte is an ionic liquid.
16. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the electrolyte is a solid-state electrolyte.
17. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the mechanism provides a voltage to the composition of less than about 1.5V.
18. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the composition further comprises a coating material selected from a list consisting of: W, Ru, Pt, Cu, TiO 2 , and ZnO.
19. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 18 , wherein the coating material is deposited via atomic layer deposition.
20. The electrochemically driven actuator recited in claim 6 , wherein the composition is isolated from ambient oxygen.
21. A method for electrochemically actuating an object, the method comprising:
causing charge-induced reversible strain of a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition wetted with an electrolyte to actuate the object by the strain.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the carbon aerogel has a mass-specific surface area of greater than about 2000 m 2 /g.
23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the carbon aerogel has a mass-specific surface area of greater than about 2800 m 2 /g.
24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the carbon aerogel includes a network of interconnected primary particles, the primary particle having a characteristic diameter of between about 3 nm and about 25 nm.
25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the electrolyte is aqueous.
26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the electrolyte is nonaqueous.
27. The method of claim 21 , wherein the electrolyte comprises at least one of: NaF, KOH, KCl, H 2 SO 4 , and HClO 4 .
28. The method of claim 21 , wherein the electrolyte is an ionic liquid.
29. The method of claim 21 , wherein the electrolyte is a solid-state electrolyte.
30. The method of claim 21 , wherein a voltage provided to the composition is less than about 1.5V.
31. The method of claim 21 , further comprising depositing a coating material on the composition, the coating material being selected from a list consisting of: W, Ru, Pt, Cu, TiO 2 , and ZnO.
32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the coating material is deposited via atomic layer deposition.
33. The method of claim 21 , further comprising controllably wetting the composition with the electrolyte.
34. A system for actuating an object, the system comprising:
an electrochemically driven actuator, comprising:
a nanoporous carbon aerogel composition wetted by an electrolyte;
a mechanism for causing charge-induced reversible strain of the composition; and
a mechanism for regulating an amount of the electrolyte contacting a surface of the composition, thereby controlling the amount of charge-induced reversible strain of the composition.