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Fabrication and characterizations of electro-mechanical actuators based on fullerene-reinforced biocompatible polymer
Fullerenes have been extensively investigated in biomedical and material science, owing to their distinct physic-
chemical properties. At this juncture, we validated the improved electro-mechanical actuation of Fullerene-
reinforced sulfonated polyetherimide (SPEI) as a novel electromechanical actuator. In the specific, tiny
amount of Fullerene (0.5 wt%) reinforced in the SPEI matrix, the bending distortion of the Fullerene-SPEI ac-
tuators is tripled. As-prepared actuators showed excellent proton conductivity, substantial mechanical strength,
high dielectric constant and blocking force, and exhibited large bending motion under harmonic and step re-
sponses. Moreover, the biocompatibility of Fullerenes and SPEI makes these actuators as auspicious candidates in
biomedical devices, robotics, and smart textiles