Manmatha Mahato

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Republic of Korea

Title: Nano-structural multifunctional carbon materials for electroactive applications

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Biography

Dr. Manmatha Mahato joins us as a BK21 Plus Postdoctoral Scholar. He received his PhD from IIT Kharagpur, India. His research will include membrane applications of porous polymers and new COF structures.

Research Area:

Functional Materials, like, COFs, COPs, CTFs for membrane applications (soft actuators and energy storage)

Education & Experience:

BK21PLUS Post-Doctoral Researcher at KAIST (2018-2019) Ph.D, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur (2017)

Abstract

Among different types of electroactive polymer actuators, current research on electro?ionic artificial muscles has drawn special attention for potential engineering applications, such as biomedical active devices, haptic?feedback systems, wearable soft electronics, and soft micro?robotics. Here, a pre?designed functional ??conjugated nanoporous covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are suggested to develop a high?performance electrode for electro?ionic soft actuators. In-depth structural characterization confirm the structural integrity of the developed active materials. Nanoporous structural configuration of COFs acted as nanoreactors for boosting the transportation and accommodation of oppositely charged ions in presence of available electrolytes during the switching of an alternating current input signal. As a results, the soft electroactive actuators show fast rise times, short phase delays, strong blocking force, high bending displacement, and ultralong durability. The newly developed actuator is successfully demonstrated for use in a soft robotic touch finger for confidently opening folders, swiping pages and playing piano apps on a fragile smartphone device.^{1, 2} While the application of these COFs in actuators can contribute to the progress of ionic soft actuators and realization of soft robotics, these COFs can be employed directly or modified for use in numerous fields, such as electro? or photocatalyst, sensor, and optoelectronic. The overall concept is represented in Figure 1 for better understanding.