IPMC (ionic polymer metal composite), a kind of ionic electroactive polymer (EAP), has been used for various applications because it has light weight and can make large bending deformation under low driving voltage. In the present work, thick IPMC films were fabricated by hot-pressing several thin IPMC films and the actuating performance was evaluated. Displacement and maximum load with applied voltage were measured using a displacement measuring system, a load cell and a multimeter. Several cycles of Pt electroless-plating were performed on the IPMC films to improve the actuating performance. Then, SEM (scanning electron microscopy) micrographs and EDS (energy dispersive spectrometer) profiles of the IPMC specimen were examined. To demonstrate the feasibility of IPMC films for medical or robotic applications, the developed IPMC actuators were applied to artificial fingers and tested.

Summary: To develop ionic polymer‐metal composites (IPMC) with improved performance, three new ion‐exchange membranes were prepared and employed in IPMC construction. The membranes were prepared by radiation‐grafting of polystyrene sulfonic acid onto three fluoropolymers; poly(vinylidenefluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene), poly(ethylene‐co‐tetrafluoroethylene), and poly(tetrafluoroethylene‐co‐hexafluoropropylene). The bending displacements of the IPMCs constructed with these membranes were at least several times larger than that of Nafion IPMC of similar thickness without straightening‐back. The larger displacement was considered to be due to the higher concentration of ionic groups and consequent larger ion‐exchange capacity.Actuation of (a) Nafion IPMC and (b) IPMC prepared in this study.imageActuation of (a) Nafion IPMC and (b) IPMC prepared in this study.

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Two series of ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs), one cationic and one anionic, are designed and prepared from radiation-grafted ion-exchange membranes. Through examination of the properties of the membranes synthesized from the two grafting monomers and the two base polymers, acrylic acid-grafted poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) and quarternized 4-vinylpyridine-grafted poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) with the appropriate amount of ionic groups are employed for the fabrication of cation and anion IPMCs, respectively. The bending displacement of the cation IPMC is comparable to Nafion-based IPMC under direct- and alternating-current voltage, but back-relaxation is not observed. The actuation performance of the anion IPMC is highly improved over those reported earlier in the literature for the other anion IPMCs.

On purpose to develop a polymer actuator with high stability in air-operation as well as large bending displacement, a series of ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMC) was constructed with poly(styrene sulfonate)-grafted fluoropolymers as ionomeric matrix and immidazolium-based ionic liquids (IL) as inner solvent. The prepared IPMC actuators exhibited greatly enhanced bending displacement compared to Nafion-based actuators. The actuators were stable in air-operation, maintaining initial displacement for up to 10(4) cycles or 24 h. Investigating the material parameters and morphology of the IPMCs, high ion exchange capacity of the ionomers resulted in high ion conductivity and robust electrode of IPMC, which synergistically contributed to the high bending performance.