Interface electrode and enhanced actuation performance of SiO₂-GO/PFSA-based IPMC soft actuators

Abstract

In this study, “three-dimensional structure” nanohybrid particle (SiO2-GO) were synthesized by in situ hydrolysis and composited with perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) to increase the water uptake (WUP) and ion exchange capacity (IEC) of the cast membranes. Ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) soft actuators were fabricated based on the cast pure PFSA, GO/PFSA and SiO2-GO/PFSA membranes. The morphology and properties of IPMC were researched, and the relationship between them was analyzed in this article. The mechanism of SiO2-GO particles enhancing the properties of IPMC was revealed. The effects of incorporating GO and SiO2-GO on IPMC actuators were analyzed using physicochemical and electromechanical measurements comparing with the corresponding behavior of pure PFSA-based IPMC actuators. Morphology of IPMC showed effective incorporation of GO and SiO2-GO and clarified the dependency of Pt interface electrode on the SiO2-GO content of the PFSA membranes. The addition of SiO2-GO increased dramatically the WUP and IEC of the PFSA membranes and autuation performance of the IPMC actuators. The IPMC with 1 wt% SiO2-GO showed superb properties. The displacement of 1 wt% SiO2-GO under 3V AC voltage reached 28.4 mm, which is 3.2 times higher than that of the pure PFSA. The maximum displacement under DC voltage reached 44.7 mm (5.5V), and the blocking force reached 43.2mN (5V), which increased respectively 1.1 times and 2 times.

Fabrication and performance analysis of high-performance cylindrical ionic polymer-metal composite actuators with various diameters

“…The sufficiently thick Pt electrodes contribute to charge injection and ion migration, and reduce surface resistance [8,24,27,47]. Furthermore, the surface resistance of the cylindrical IPMCs with various diameters measured by a digital multimeter ranges from 1.2 to 2 Ω cm −1 (as shown in table 1), which is lower than the previous peer work [5,11,18,26,27,[30][31][32]48], thus the actuation performance of cylindrical IPMCs can be effectively improved.…”

Current research status of ionic polymer–metal composites in applications of low-voltage actuators

“…The resulting IPMC demonstrated a displacement output that was several times greater than that of Nafion, and its response rate was also enhanced. Aifen Tian et al 65 used the solution casting method to fabricate pure PFSA, GO/PFSA, and SiO 2 –GO/PFSA membranes, which were coated with Pt electrodes. The study showed that the addition of SiO 2 –GO significantly improved the WUP and IEC of the PFSA membrane, leading to an amplified displacement by 3.2 times and a doubled blocking force.…”

A comprehensive survey of ionic polymer metal composite transducers: preparation, performance optimization and applications

“…Effective interfacial electrodes can also be obtained by compositing with non-metallic electrodes. For example, Ru et al have formed an interface layer of IPMC through hot-pressing sulfonated multi-walled carbon nanotube (SCNT)/Nafion hybrid layer, and formed a layer of Pt surface electrode through electroless plating [107] . The large thickness of the interface layer increased the tip displacement of IPMC by 150% and the blocking force by 285%.…”

“…When the whole IPMC is bent, one side is stretched, and the other side is compressed. The hydrated cations will migrate directionally along the IPA assisted electroless plating 200% 65% [23] PVA instead of roughening 100% -26% [106] Compositing non-metallic electrode 150% 285% [107] Increasing interface area Impregnation electroplating 360% - [34] Forming porous structure 50% 100% [110] Doping PEO 116% 26.7% [111] Doping SGO 700% - [112] Increasing WU capacity Doping MCNTs to form porous structure 99.4% 102.3% [115] Hot-pressing multilayer Nafion 400% 2000%…”