The utility of unmanned Micro Underwater Vehicles (MUVs) is paramount for exploring confined spaces, but their spatial agility is often impaired when maneuvers require burstpropulsion. Herein we develop high-aspect ratio (150:1), multi-walled carbon nanotube microarray membranes (CNT-MMs) for propulsive, MUV thrust generation by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The CNT-MMs are grown via chemical vapor deposition with diamond shaped pores (nominal diagonal dimensions of 4.5 × 9.0 [μm]) and subsequently decorated with urchin-like, platinum (Pt) nanoparticles via a facile, electroless, chemical deposition process. The Pt-CNT-MMs display robust, high catalytic ability with an effective activation energy of 26.96 [kJ mol-1] capable of producing a thrust of 0.209 ± 0.049 [N] from 50% [w/w] H2O2 decomposition within a compact reaction chamber of eight Pt-CNT-MMs in series.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.5b02124