Effect of molecular structure on performance of electroactive ionic acrylic copolymer–platinum composites

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The character and performance of a new ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) prepared with a melt-processable fluorinated acrylic copolymer were examined. The fluorinated acrylic copolymer was synthesized by the copolymerization of fluoroalkyl methacrylate (DuPont Zonyl) and acrylic acid, and it was compression molded to attain membranes of various thicknesses. The current and displacement responses by electric stimulus were measured to study the effects of the ionic concentration, thickness, and countercation on the actuation of the IPMC. The ionic center of the acrylic copolymer was essential for the actuation of the IPMC; however, too much ionic center induced excessive water uptake, which caused adverse effects on the performance of the IPMC. When the applied voltage was 5 V, the largest current and displacement responses were observed with the IPMC prepared by a fluorinated acrylic copolymer containing 11.8 wt % acrylic acid.

A Biomimetic Actuator Based on an Ionic Networking Membrane of Poly(styrene‐alt‐maleimide)‐Incorporated Poly(vinylidene fluoride)

“…[4] However, up to now, the resulted size of the deposited and penetrated Pt particles was still much larger than that ($5 nm) of incipient particles associated with ion clusters, i. e. about 40-60 nm. [4,12,13] In the case of the fabrication of the INM actuators of the PSMI-incorporated PVDF, no dispersing agent was applied during the electroless-plating process. Nevertheless, as revealed by SEM ( Figure 4b) and TEM (Figure 5b) technique, much smaller and more uniform platinum particles were formed on the surfaces of the strips as well as within the polymer matrix.…”

“…[11] So many efforts have been undertaken to replace the Nafion membrane, which is widely used in the fields of the fuel cell and the polymer actuator, by much cheaper and ecologically more acceptable materials over the past few years. [12,13] So far, the work done has been only partially successful. Employing the membranes prepared through the conventional methods by these academic and industrial groups, the electromechanical performance of the actuators was not comparable with that of their Nafion counterpart.…”

Sulfonated polystyrene-based ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) actuator

“…Few other studies have been performed to present alternatives to the conventional IPMCs. Interested readers are referred to the concerned articles [15][16][17][18][19]. From the literature survey presented, we came to know that so far there is only a limited progress in finding unique and effective alternatives to conventional materials used for IPMC applications.…”

Novel electro-active polymer actuator based on ionic networking membrane of PSMI-incorporated PVDF

“…uniaxial mechanical stretching, and heterogeneous compositing technique [6]. However, up to now, the resulted size of the deposited and penetrated Pt particles was still in the range of 40-60 nm, which is much larger than that of incipient particles associated with ion clusters, i. e. about 5 nm [5,[20][21][22]. In the case of the fabrication of the INM actuators of the PSMI-incorporated PVDF, no dispersing agent was introduced during the electroless-plating process, and no other complicated processing technique was applied during their evolution.…”

“…The fluorinated polymer is less environmentally friendly, and its cost is at least 1 order of magnitude too high [19]. So many efforts has been undertaken to replace the most widely used Nafion family in polymer actuators by cheaper and ecologically more acceptable materials over the past few years [20][21][22]. So far, the work done has been only partially successful.…”