High-performance nacre-like graphene@polymer supported montmorillonite composite actuator and sensor

Abstract

In this study, we reported a novel dual-responsive actuator based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO), carboxylic acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (XNBR) and montmorillonite (MMT) bilayer architecture. Intrinsic interactions between rGO and XNBR as well as the “mechanical annealing” process endowed the rGO@XNBR/MMT actuator with outstanding tensile strength (149.8 MPa) and toughness (∼4.88 MJ/m3) by mimicking the naturally occurring brick-and-mortar structure from nacres and improving the regularity of graphene nanosheets. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of temperature-passive/humidity-active MMT layer and temperature-active/humidity-passive rGO@XNBR layer, the actuator shows good actuating performance, such as excellent durability (>10,000), reversible and large deformation (180°), fast response (<2 s). Furthermore, the actuator also performed controllable electrical conductivity and excellent thermal insulation performance, which further expanded its potential applications, such as flames detection/sensor and protective cover.