Artificial muscles show more flex

Artificial muscles made significant gains when a literal twist in the development approach uncovered the tensile or stretchy abilities of polymer fibers once they were twisted and coiled into a spring-like geometry. In a similar manner to the powerful climbing tendrils of cucumber plants, the unique geometry gives the coil a flexing motion when fiber material shrinks a reaction that can be controlled with heat. Now, researchers have improved these tensile properties even further by focusing on the thermal properties of the polymer fiber and the molecular structure that makes best use of the chiral configuration.