Performance Enhancement of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Actuators with Polyethylene Oxide.

Dongxu Zhao,Jie Ru,Tong Wang,Longfei Chang,Yanjie Wang

doi:10.3390/polym14010080

Abstract

Current ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) always proves inadequate in terms of large attenuation and short working time in air due to water leakage. To address this problem, a feasible and effective solution was proposed in this study to enhance IPMC performance operating in air by doping polyethylene oxide (PEO) with superior water retention capacity into Nafion membrane. The investigation of physical characteristics of membranes blended with varying PEO contents revealed that PEO/Nafion membrane with 20 wt% PEO exhibited a homogeneous internal structure and a high water uptake ratio. At the same time, influences of PEO contents on electromechanical properties of IPMCs were studied, showing that the IPMCs with 20 wt% PEO presented the largest peak-to-peak displacement, the highest volumetric work density, and prolonged stable working time. It was demonstrated that doping PEO reinforced electromechanical performances and restrained displacement attenuation of the resultant IPMC.

Highlights

Tremendous efforts have been made to develop ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) as soft actuators based on their inherent flexibility, light weight, and biological compatibility [1,2,3,4]
The Polyethylene oxide (PEO)/Nafion-IPMCs were prepared via the impregnation-reduction method, which has been described in detail in the [10]
It was this homogeneous internal structure that contributed to the excellent electromechanical performance for the resultant IPMC

Summary

Introduction

Tremendous efforts have been made to develop ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) as soft actuators based on their inherent flexibility, light weight, and biological compatibility [1,2,3,4]. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) is a promising candidate for water retention material due to its unique ether-oxygen bond (-C-C-O-C-C-O-) structure and hydrogen properties [21,22,23,24,25] These features are in favor Polymers 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIoEfWthe formation of consecutive ion migration microchannels inside the membrane d2opoef d11 with PEO [26,27,28]. These features are in favor of the formation of consecutive ion migration microchannels inside the membrane doped with PEO [26,27,28].

Fabrication of IPMCs

Characterizations

Electromechanical Test of IPMCs

Results and Discussion