No abstract

There is a growing interest in the development of ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMC) as sensors and actuators for biomedical applications due to their large deformation under low driving voltage. In this study, we employed poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PVA/PAMPS) blend membranes as semi-interpenetrating polymer networks for ion exchange in IPMC construction. To improve the mechanical and electrical properties of the IPMC, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were added into PVA/PAMPS membranes. The actuator performance of the membranes was measured as a function of their water uptake, ion exchange capacity, ionic conductivity and the amount of MWNT in the membrane. The dispersion quality of the modified MWNT in the PVA/PAMPS membrane was measured using transmission electron microscopy. The cantilever-type IPMC actuator bends under applied voltage and its bending angle and the generative tip force were measured. Under an applied voltage, IPMC with ∼1 wt% MWNT showed the largest deflection and generated the largest blocking tip force compared with those of IPMC with other various amounts of MWNT. These results show that a small addition of MWNT can optimize the actuation performance of IPMC. The result indicates that IPMC with MWNT shows potential for use as biomimetic artificial muscle.