MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Polymer Gel Actuators and Sensors
Steven B. Leeb
MIT
Thursday, September 19, 1996
4:00 PM
Grier Room 34-401A
BAMS Seminar
Abstract
Gels consist of a crosslinked network of polymers suspended in a solvent. Under certain
conditions, gels have been observed to undergo reversible changes in volume. These volume
changes may be over 1000-fold and can be triggered by a variety of electrochemical conditions,
including changes in temperature, solvent composition, or pH. Gels could in principle be used as
actuators in servomechanisms and sensors, which range in size from microscopic (silicon)
mechanisms to mechanisms comparable in size and force density to biological systems. For
example, polymer gels could act as synthetic muscles that provide direct, quiet and swift linear
motion with useful force densities. Gels loaded with appropriate, beneficial solvents could be used
in controlled drug-release applications either in vivo or in vitro. The potential applications for gels
are due in part to the wide range of environmental triggers for which gels can be made to respond.
This talk will be an overview of some of our recent work with gels. My research team has, for
example, developed gels that change volume in response to an applied alternating magnetic field.
We are working to apply these gels as actuators. Some sensor applications employing gels will also
be reviewed.
DISCUSSION LEADER:
Stephen D. Senturia, MIT
URL of this page:
http://www-eecs.mit.edu/AY96-97/events/7.html
Created: Sep 19, 1996
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Modified: Jun 24, 1997
This announcement is from the MIT EECS 1996-97 archive.
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