Comparison of plasma treatment and sandblast preprocessing for IPMC actuator

Abstract

As a new kind of ionic-driven smart materials, ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC ) is normally fabricated by depositing noble metal (gold, platinum, palladium etc.) on both sides of base membrane (Nafion, Flemion etc.) and shows large bending deflection under low voltage. In the process of fabricating IPMC, surface roughening of base membrane has a significant effect on the performance of IPMC. At present, there are many ways to roughen the base membrane, including physical and chemical ways. In this paper, we analyze the effects of different surface treatment time by plasma etching on surface resistance and mechanical properties of IPMCs fabricated by the treated base membranes. Experimental results show that the base membrane treated by plasma etching displays uniform surface roughness, consequently reducing IPMC’s surface resistance effectively and forming more uniform and homogeneous external and penetrative electrodes. However, due to the use of reactive gas, the plasma treatment leads to complex chemical reaction on Nafion surface, changing element composition and material properties and resulting in the performance degradation of IPMC. And sandblast way should be adopted and improved without any changes on element and material structure.