The publication Science highlights the team's work in a technical paper appearing in its May 21 issue.

Called carbon nanotube artificial muscles, they are composed of billions of submicroscopic carbon fibers formed into sheets. The team demonstrated that when two electrolyte-filled carbon nanotube sheets are connected to a battery they can perform mechanical work similar to natural muscle.

The carbon nanotubes are much stronger and more durable than either natural muscles or existing materials currently available for directly converting electrical energy to mechanical energy in motors and actuators. The expected benefits of carbon nanotubes include a dramatically increased ability to do work and generate forces over known technologies, as well as the ability to operate at low voltages and extremely high temperatures.

"The development of carbon nanotube muscle is in its embryonic stages, but our recent demonstrations show us that this technology could be game-changing for a host of key applications," said Ray Baughman, the AlliedSignal researcher leading the international team.

Baughman said that additional research needs to be done on optimizing both the carbon nanotube materials and the devices before the artificial muscles are ready for commercialization. "Overcoming these challenges could result in our actuators being used in key applications, such as robotics, artificial hearts and limbs, optical fiber switches, aircraft control systems, nanoscale machines and optical displays," Baughman added.

The team's research activities are funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Other key members of the research team are from the University of Connecticut; University of Florida, Gainesville; Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; Max Planck Institute, Stuttgart, Germany; University of Pisa, Italy; University of Utah; University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; and the University of Wollongong, Australia.