
Plastic ‘Muscle’ Pumps Up Soft Robotics
Robots could soon make use of plastic “muscles” thanks to a new ferroelectric polymer that excels at converting electrical energy into motion, according to research led by Penn State. The research, published in the journal Natural Materials, found that ferroelectric polymer nanocomposites can outperform traditional piezoelectric polymer composites to create high-performance motion controllers. Applications could include advanced robotics, medical devices, and precision positioning systems. “Potentially we can now have a…