Electrothermally actuated artificial muscles from the silver-polyethylene-terephthalate core–shell structure

Developing compliant-artificial muscles for applications in soft robotics and flexible electronics is of practical importance. In this work, we construct Ag-PET (silver-polyethylene-terephthalate) twist-coiled structures from Ag-coated PET. Using electrothermal effect as the actuation mechanism, we demonstrate the contraction of the Ag-PET twist-coiled structures under the action of electric voltage. Increasing electric voltage increases Joule heating, resulting in the increase of the actuation distance and actuation load. Controlling the training load and the rotational speed in the preparation of the Ag-PET twist-coiled structures can tailor the line density of active coils and determine the functionalities of the Ag-PET twist-coiled structures.