Due to getting less than 10% contraction with the single ply thread, we decided to explore using monofilament fishing line which has been explored as an artificial muscle.
Although the fishing line coiled well, it did not contract due to high resistance. To combat this issue we performed the following tests:
Left (Wrapped with Copper wire), Middle (Coiled Copper wire), Right (Wrapped with Thread)
As shown in the figure above (Left image), the first test conducted was coiling the fishing line and wrapping it with copper wire. Due to the high resistance of the wire, there was Zero current flow across the wire, and for that reason, no heat was released to the fishing line. The middle image in figure 4 shows the resultant coiled fishing line with copper wire, which resulted as an unsuccessful coiled material. The right image on figure 4 shows the resultant coiled fishing line wrapped with coiled Shieldex Statex thread, which resulted in snapping of the thread after the first voltage application. The last test using the fishing line consisted of coiling the fishing line with the un-coiled Shieldex Statex Thread, which resulted in a 7% contraction after the first voltage application.