Multi-Stimuli, Large-Stroke Hybrid Carbon Fiber-Based Artificial Muscles

Although advances in twisted and coiled carbon nanotube (CNT) artificial muscles have accelerated the developments of soft robotics, haptics, and exoskeletons, the high cost of CNT limits its practical application. Here, a low-cost, silicone-infiltrated carbon fiber-based artificial muscle is proposed, which is solvent-absorption, electrothermally, and photothermally controllable. When driven by solvent absorption, these muscles generate a contractile stroke of 36.7% and a work capacity of 419 J kg(-1) (approximate to 10 times that of human skeletal muscle), which can lift >5000 times their own weight. Moreover, an electrothermally and photothermally powered carbon fiber muscle generates a work capacity of 124.4 and 302 J kg(-1), which is 3.8 and 9 times that of human skeletal muscle. Potential applications of these carbon fiber muscles are demonstrated for a solvent-absorption-powered intelligent curtain and an electrothermally driven bionic robotic arm.