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Artificial muscle made of crystalline plastic

19.07.2019

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of lightweight solid materials in which simple organic building blocks, such as carbon-containing molecules, are bonded to boric acid or aldehyde groups, with covalent bonds. In general, in its composition, this material does not differ from conventional plastics, but at the molecular level it has a completely different structure. If in solid plastics the polymer chains of molecules are connected randomly, then in COF they form a crystalline structure. Pores form between these chains, making the material very light.

COF can be used to store gas (such as hydrogen) and to deliver drugs. However, these scaffolds usually exist as nano- or micro-sized crystalline powders—they are brittle and cannot be made into the larger sheets or membranes that would be useful for many practical applications. Scientists have tried to improve the mechanical properties of COF by using linear polymers as building blocks.

Researchers in China and the US have created polymeric covalent organic scaffolds (polyCOF) based on the existing COF structure, but during the synthesis of the compound, they added polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the reagents. The PEG chains occluded the porous space of the COF, creating a more compact, stronger, and more stable structure. Unlike conventional scaffolds, polymer scaffolds can be incorporated into flexible membranes that can be repeatedly flexed, twisted, or stretched without damage.

To demonstrate how polyCOF could be used as an artificial muscle, the team made a foil puppet to which the resulting membrane was attached. Under the influence of ethanol vapors, the doll "sat down", and when the vapors stopped later, she lay back down. The researchers repeated these steps several times, causing the doll to bend. Expanding the pores of polyCOF under the influence of the gas likely explains the doll's gymnastic "ability", the researchers said.

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