Scientists in Germany and Austria have revealed that a revolutionary new approach to robotics using platinum could outperform the motor-and-gear-based machines usually employed.

The news follows the development of a prototype 'muscle' made from platinum and corrosive fluids, which its developers say could be used in everything from replacement artificial limbs to robots operating in war and space exploration.

Joerg Weissmueller, a materials scientist at Saarland University who worked on the project, says their creation, which 'flexes' when injected with an electric charge, may even prove to be of interest for operation in direct contact with biological fluids in living systems.

Mr Weissmueller told United Press International that he and his colleagues used platinum grains bathed in sulphuric acid, potassium hydroxide and other electrically conductive fluids.

The higher the voltage, the more electrons that inject into the platinum, which expands the atomic bonds and swells the metal.

In findings appearing in the today's (April 11th) issue of the journal Science, the research team reports the electrically charged surfaces led to flexing that can 'be observed with the naked eye in some of our samples'.