The team has demonstrated the potential of a new type of ferroelectric polymer that can convert electrical energy into a mechanical strain with greater efficiency than previous methods.

This material could be extremely useful in the development of medical devices, advanced robotics and precision positioning systems.

This new polymer could overcome the limitations of traditional piezoelectric polymer composites. In doing so, it would offer a promising avenue for the development of soft actuators, which are materials that change shape when an external force is applied to them.

In contrast to rigid actuators, soft actuators are extremely useful in the field of robotics due to its strength, power and flexibility. 

“Potentially we can now have a type of soft robotics that we refer to as 'artificial muscle',” said Qing Wang, Penn State professor of materials science and engineering and co-corresponding author of the study. “This would enable us to have soft...