Abstract
An inseparable part of ionic actuator characterization is a set of adequate measurement devices. Due to significant limitations of available commercial systems, in-house setups are often employed. The main objective of this work was to develop a software solution for running isotonic and isometric experiments on a hardware setup consisting of a potentiostat, a linear displacement actuator, a force sensor, and a voltmeter for measuring the force signal. A set of functions, hardware drivers, and measurement automation algorithms were developed in the National Instruments LabVIEW 2015 system. The result is a software called isotonic (displacement) and isometric (force) electro-chemo-measurement software (IIECMS), that enables the user to control isotonic and isometric experiments over a single compact graphical user interface. The linear ionic actuators chosen as sample systems included different materials with different force and displacement characteristics, namely free-standing polypyrrole films doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonate (PPy/DBS) and multiwall carbon nanotube/carbide-derived carbon (MWCNT-CDC) fibers. The developed software was thoroughly tested with numerous test samples of linear ionic actuators, meaning over 200 h of experimenting time where over 90% of the time the software handled the experiment process autonomously. The uncertainty of isotonic measurements was estimated to be 0.6 µm (0.06%). With the integrated correction algorithms, samples with as low as 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be adequately described.
Highlights
IntroductionIonic actuators are an interesting class of materials which can change their shape over electrochemical stimuli [1]
The linear ionic actuators chosen as sample systems included different materials with different force and displacement characteristics, namely free-standing polypyrrole films doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonate (PPy/DBS) and multiwall carbon nanotube/carbide-derived carbon (MWCNT-CDC) fibers
Ionic actuators are an interesting class of materials which can change their shape over electrochemical stimuli [1]
Summary
Ionic actuators are an interesting class of materials which can change their shape over electrochemical stimuli [1]. “Ionic” means that these materials rely on ions (from electrolyte) to carry out their shape change These materials are called “artificial muscles” [2] due to relative similarity to the behavior of natural muscles. From the variety of materials belonging to this class, conducting polymers [9] and multiwall carbon nanotube/carbide-derived carbon (MWCNT-CDC) fibers [10] were chosen, which differ in their actuation mechanism and formation. Conducting polymers, such as polypyrrole, are a class of materials that follow redox-active processes (Faradaic actuators) [11]. During oxidation a positive charge is formed on the PPy network, in order to maintain the electroneutrality, counterions (anions with solvent) move into the PPy film [12]
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