Double coiled yarn actuator working in air for haptic garments

• Smart textile yarns have already shown their potential for fabrication of textile actuators. However, their actuation strain and force have been limited so far. Accordingly, twisting, and coiling techniques have attracted much attention to enhance the strain and force of yarn actuators. In this regard, coiled yarns that actuate under a liquid electrolyte have been studied well, but coiled yarn actuators that work in air are not explored as much. In this work, a double coiled yarn structure that works in air is designed, prepared, and investigated. Commercial textile yarns were coated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) solution. Thereafter, yarns were coiled using a motorized stage. Two coiled yarns, as cathode and anode, are then placed near each other and covered with an ionogel precursor mixture containing an ionic liquid as ion reservoir. The gel is cured and set using UV emission. The actuation properties of the prepared double coiled yarn actuator were investigated in air. A square wave potential of ±2 V was applied, and strain response of the actuator yarns was measured. The results showed that prepared double coiled yarn can potentially be a promising candidate as soft actuators in wearables and garments, e.g. for haptic applications.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Textil-, gummi- och polymermaterial (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Textile, Rubber and Polymeric Materials (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Polymerkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Polymer Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

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