Effect of Core Yarn on Linear Actuation of Electroactive Polymer Coated Yarn Actuators

Abstract

AbstractSmart textiles combine the features of conventional textiles with promising properties of smart materials such as electromechanically active polymers, resulting in textile actuators. Textile actuators comprise of individual yarn actuators, so understanding their electro‐chemo‐mechanical behavior is of great importance. Herein, this study investigates the effect of inherent structural and mechanical properties of commercial yarns, that form the core of the yarn actuators, on the linear actuation of the conducting‐polymer‐based yarn actuators. Commercial yarns were coated with poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)‐poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) to make them conductive. Then polypyrrole (PPy) that provides the electromechanical actuation is electropolymerized on the yarn surface under controlled conditions. The linear actuation of the yarn actuators is investigated in aqueous electrolyte under isotonic and isometric conditions. The yarn actuators generated an isotonic strain up to 0.99% and isometric force of 95 mN. The isometric strain achieved in this work is more than tenfold and threefold greater than the previously reported yarn actuators. The isometric actuation force shows an increase of nearly 11‐fold over our previous results. Finally, a qualitative mechanical model is introduced to describe the actuation behavior of yarn actuators. The strain and force created by the yarn actuators make them promising candidates for wearable actuator technologies.