Artificial muscles made from ordinary yarn: for this, the wool was treated with plasma

As part of a project to create soft drives on a textile basis, engineers from Jiangnan University

China has recently developed new artificialmuscles. They are based on single-spiral wool threads separated from each other. Artificial muscles can be used to produce torsional actuators simply and affordably. They will be able to detect humidity in the environment and react to it.

Past research has shown that twisting yarn to create free-standing artificial muscle structures without the use of harmful chemicals or processes is a challenging task.

However, researchers from the UniversityJiangnan came up with an environmentally friendly technology for reliable muscle production based on single-strand yarn. Their method is based on a combination of UV illumination and plasma etching, a process often used to produce integrated circuits.

Illustration of the hierarchical design of free-standing artificial muscles made from wool yarns for moisture-sensing smart textiles. 
Photo: Peng et al.

This treatment will limit the dissipation of energy fromwool fibers, thereby increasing the firing efficiency of artificial muscles. In addition, this method is efficient, scalable and easy to implement, making it ideal for manufacturing muscle-like structures at an industrial level.

Thanks to its unique design, the yarn from whichconsists of an artificial muscle structure that restores its original spiral shape after drying, without requiring the integration of an external spring. In initial tests, the yarn-based muscles demonstrated reversible and moisture-sensitive actuation.

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