CLARIFYING THE CARBON NANOTUBE ACTUATION MECHANISM - AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

摘要

Experimental investigations of different architectures made of pure, as produced carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the main focus of this presented article. Different types of experimental setups are used to analyze the free strain of the CNT-based architectures. According to their build-up different experimental setups like actuated tensile tests, in-plane and out-of-plane strain measurements are realized to investigate the actuation mechanism and possible dependencies. The first analyzed architecture can be characterized as a 2D paper of randomly oriented, entangled single walled CNTs, also called Bucky-paper. In contrast the second investigated architecture consists of highly oriented, vertically aligned multi walled CNTs grown on a substrate of glassy carbon. The results are evaluated according to findings of various other material quality tests in order to find a significant statement for their possible actuation mechanisms.