The preparation, characterization and actuation behavior of polyaniline and celluloseblended electro-active paper

Abstract

This paper reports polyaniline and cellulose blended electro-active paper(EAPap) that can produce large bending displacement at ambient humidityconditions with long lifetime durability. A novel solution processable polyaniline-p-toluene sulfonate (PANI–PTSA) salt was prepared by an invertedemulsion polymerization technique using benzoyl peroxide andp-toluene sulfonic acid. Cellulose solution prepared by dissolving cotton with lithiumchloride/N, N-dimethylacetamide was mixed with the PANI emaraldine salt solution and acellulose–PANI blended film was obtained. The obtained cellulose–PANI film wascharacterized by ultraviolet–visible (UV–visible), x-ray diffraction, scanning electronmicroscopy and tensile test methods. A cellulose–PANI EAPap actuator was made bydepositing very thin gold electrodes on both sides of the cellulose–PANI film. When theactuator performance of the cellulose–PANI EAPap was evaluated in terms of bendingdisplacement with respect to the actuation frequencies, voltages and relative humiditylevels, a large bending displacement was shown at ambient humidity conditions with longlifetime durability.