How Nanoporous Silicon-Polypyrrole Hybrids Flex Their Muscles in Aqueous Electrolytes: In Operando High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction and Electron Tomography-Based Micromechanical Computer Simulations

Dataset that contains different data on an in situ, combined electrochemical and x-ray diffraction investigation of the electrochemical actuation of a polypyrrole-filled porous silicon hybrid material. The pores of nanoporous silicon are filled by the electroactive polymer polypyrrole. An applied potential to the hybrid material immersed in an electrolyte solution leads to an incorporation of ions into the polymer and an expansion of the whole hybrid material. This electrochemical actuation is investigated by x-ray diffraction experiments, in which the lattice constant of the highly mono-crystalline porous silicon host material is studied with respect to the actuation. The dataset contains the electrochemical and the x-ray datasets. Moreover, a transmission electron microscopy tomography is performed on the polypyrrole-porous silicon hybrid material to obtain a three-dimensional model. This tomography reconstruction is included in the dataset. It can be transformed into an FEM model so that the actuation-induced strains and stresses in the complex porous silicon host structure can be studied and compared to the experimentally gained insights.