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Prof. Wei CHEN

Prof. Wei CHEN

Professor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Biography

 

Professor Wei CHEN is now a full professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001. From 2001 to 2006, he worked as a postdoc at the University of Science and Technology of China, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University respectively. From 2006 to 2018, he worked as a Professor of Materials Science at Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In August 2018, He joined in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is internationally recognized for his leading research work in nanotechnology-based smart materials and applications, including muscle-like flexible actuators, skin-like touch sensors, electricity generators, and optoelectric functional fibers for wearable energy harvesting and storage. He has published more than 130 papers in high-impact international scientific journals, including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie, ACS Nano, Nano. Lett., JACS, Progress in Polymer Science, Materials Science & Engineering R, and etc. The total citations: >11500, h-index =54 from Google Scholar.

Flexible Actuating Materials for Wearable Applications

 

Abstract

Wearable textile devices that convert electrical energy to mechanical work, with performance similar to skeletal muscles, are attractive because these human-friendly medical devices can be worn directly by injured or disabled people for purpose of home rehabilitation or care. However, up-to-date, among various approaches and materials, that is, pneumatic actuator, electroactive polymer, piezo-ceramic and shape memory alloy, there has not yet been such a miniaturized soft motor that can reach the required level of actuation like muscles. Among them, ionic polymer actuators are light, flexible, low (safe) working voltage and show great promises to meet the challenge. The typical ionic polymer actuator is composed of a semipermeable ion-exchange polymer membrane covered with two electrode layers. During actuation process, ion migration caused by the applied electrical field induces the swelling of one side and shrinkage of the other side, and thus the actuator strip bends. In the system, our recent research mainly focused on the electrodes. By using novel carbon nanotube, graphene and graphdiyne as the electrodes and the energy conversion medium, significant progress and high performance in terms of low power consumption, larger strain, faster actuation speed, and larger transducing efficiency have been achieved, which makes them as prime candidates as human-friendly polymer actuators and wearable muscles.

 

 

 

 

 

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