Electrothermal Actuator on Graphene Bilayer Film

Electrodriven bilayer actuator is designed and fabricated by spin-coating a reduced graphene oxide solution onto a polymer substrate. The bonded interface properties, electrical and thermal conductivities are characterized through scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The bilayer actuator exhibits fast and large bending response when a direct current voltage is applied to the graphene layer. Whereas it exhibits oscillation when an alternating current voltage is applied to the bilayer actuator. The effects of the layer structure and the electro-operation methods on the bending motions are studied. Two new actuation modes are explored to broaden the applications of electrodriven bilayer actuator, which are achieved by the actuator structure design and the driven current control. Electrically responsive graphene bilayer soft actuator provides the potential applications in the fields of thin-film electronics, sensors, and energy conversion.