Adv. Funct. Mater. (2026), “Bio-Friendly Artificial Muscles Based on Carbon Nanotube Yarns and Eutectogel Derivatives”
Electrochemically driven coiled yarn actuators are promising flexible transducers with potential applications as artificial muscle precursors for smart textiles, prosthetics, soft robotics, and exoskeletons. Notably, they offer a fast response and large contractile stroke. They typically consist of a coiled electroactive yarn and an electrolyte, serving respectively as the electrode and the ion source. Carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns are the most widely used fibers for these actuators due to their unique combination of properties suited for electrochemical actuation, combining high efficiency and durability.
Within the framework of the European SOFTWEAR project (MSCA Doctoral Network) and Gabriela Ananieva’s PhD thesis, the LEDNA Laboratory at NIMBE is developing the fabrication of these CNT fibers via direct dry-spinning of aligned CNTs grown by CVD, with the goal of subsequently coupling them with eutectogel-derived electrolytes developed by the LPPI laboratory (CY Cergy Paris University). The combination of carbon nanotube fibers with these environmentally friendly electrolytes has enabled the validation of a highly efficient unipolar contraction in these actuators, achieving a stroke and strain rate under load comparable to those of natural muscle, while maintaining mechanical integrity and displacement stability over a large number of cycles. Their integration into a textile structure via warp-knitted insertion, alongside the preservation of their electromechanical performance, confirms their potential for smart technical textile applications.
Discover the full study in Adv. Funct. Mater. (2026), doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202515458.
Contact : Mathieu PINAULT, NIMBE/LEDNA
Référence : Gabriela Ananieva, Cédric Vancaeyzeele, Giao T.M. Nguyen, Daniel Aguilera-Bulla, Mathieu Pinault, Frédéric Vidal, Cédric Plesse, Adv. Funct. Mater. 36, (2026): e15458, “Bio-Friendly Artificial Muscles Based on Carbon Nanotube Yarns and Eutectogel Derivatives”