Invited by Prof. Qingwen Li, Prof. Ray H. Baughman, American materials scientist as well as academician of U.S. National Engineering Academy, visited Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), and presented an invited talk entitled “Multifunctional Biscrolled Carbon Nanotube and Polymer Nanofiber Yarns for Energy Storing and Energy Harvesting Textiles and Artificial Muscles” in the afternoon of Oct 20, 2015. Before the presentation, Prof. Baughman received the certificate for guest professor from Porf. Hui Yang, the director of SINANO.

Prof. Baughman introduced their recent progress on the study of high-performance artificial muscles produced by biscrolling carbon nanotube and polymer into composite yarns. The biscrolled textiles and yarns which harvest glucose in human serum as electrical energy, serve as low density superconducting wires, and function as torsional and tensile artificial muscles that can be thermally, electrically, chemically, electrochemically or light powered. This kind of “muscle” having remarkable energy storage and energy harvesting capabilities mimics the natural muscle contraction to generate force which can bear an adult's weight. When twisted, the energy produced by the normal size fiber can make the light shining, so its potential would be expected to be used for large electric motors. After the presentation, Prof. Baughman discussed with young students and scientists, and visited the Division of Advanced Nano-Materials.

About Ray Baughman

Ray Baughman received a B.S. in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in the Materials Science area from Harvard University. He is a Member of The National Academy of Engineering and The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas; a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry; an Academician of The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; an Honorary Professor of four universities in China; and is on editorial and advisory boards of Science, Materials Research Letters, the International Journal of Nanoscience, and the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Ray has 70 US patents and over 310 refereed publications with over 18,100 citations.

Prof. Ray H. Baughman presented a talk.(Image by SINANO)