Abstract
Ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) is a promising candidate for artificial muscles and other bio-related applications. Compared with the widely reported Nafion, Flemion-based IPMC has some more attractive advantages. To improve its mechanical stability in dry environments, the organic solvent glycerol was applied. The mechanical characteristics such as tip displacement, tip force and durability were measured and analyzed. The results showed that Flemion-based IPMC with glycerol as solvent has optimum mechanical stability in dry conditions and will be a good candidate for artificial muscles working in air.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Y. Bar-Cohen: Electroactive polymers as artificial muscles-capabilities, potentials and challenges, in Handbook on Biomimetics, edited by Y. Osada (NTS Inc., Japan, 2000), pp. 1–13.
R. Kanno, S. Tadokoro, T. Takamori, and K. Oguro: 3-Dimensional dynamic model of ionic conducting polymer gel film (ICPF) actuator, in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics Beijing, China, 1996, (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, New York) Vol. 3, pp. 2179–2184.
B. Kim, B.M. Kim, J.R.I Oh, S.K. Lee, S.E. Cha, and J. Pak: Analysis of mechanical characteristics of the ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator using cast ion-exchange film, in Proc. SPIE—Smart Structures and Materials: Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices edited by Y. Bar-Cohen, San Diego, CA, 2003, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA), Vol. 5051, pp. 486–495.
M. Bennett and D. Leo: Ionic liquids as novel solvents for ionic polymer transducers, in Proc. SPIE—Smart Structures and Materials: Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices edited by Y. Bar-Cohen, San Diego, CA, 2004, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA), Vol. 5385, pp. 210–220.
S. Nemat-Nasser, Y. Wu: Comparative experimental study of ionic polymer-metal composites with different backbone ionomers and in various cation forms. J. Appl. Phys. 93, 5255 (2003).
S. Zamani and S. Nemat-Nasser: Experimental study of Nafion-based ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) with glycerol as solvent, in Proc. SPIE—Smart Structures and Materials: Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices edited by Y. Bar-Cohen, San Diego, CA, 2005, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA), Vol. 5759, pp. 165–169.
M. Shahinpoor, K.J. Kim: Ionic polymer-metal composites. III. Modeling and simulation as biomimetic sensors, actuators, transducers, and artificial muscles. Smart Mater. Struct. 13, 1362 (2004).
E.T. Enikov, G.S. Seo: Analysis of water and proton fluxed in ion-exchange polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators subjected to large external potentials. Sens. Actuators, A 122, 264 (2005).
E.T. Enikov, G.S. Seo: Experimental analysis of current and deformations of IPMC Actuators. Exp. Mech. 45, 383 (2005).
S. Nemat-Nasser and S. Zamani: Experimental study of Nafion- and Flemion-based ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) with ethylene glycol as solvent, in Proc. SPIE—Smart Structures and Materials: Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices edited by Y. Bar-Cohen, San Diego, CA, 2003, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA) Vol. 5051, pp. 233–244.
N. Fujiwara, K. Asaka, Y. Nishimura, K. Oguro, E. Torikai: Preparation of gold-solid polymer electrolyte composites as electric stimuli-responsive materials. Chem. Mater. 12, 1750 (2000).
L.G. Marie, C. Xu, V. Cheng, and M. Taya: Flemion based actuator for mechanically controlled microwave switch, Proc. SPIE—Smart Structures and Materials: Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices edited by Bar-Cohen Y. (San Diego, CA, 2003), Vol. 5051, pp. 362–371.
J. Wang, C. Xu, M. Taya, and Y. Kuga: Flemion based actuator with ionic liquid as solvent, in Proc. SPIE—Smart Structures and Materials: Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices, San Diego, CA, 2006, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA), Vol. 6168, pp. 61680R.
M. Le Guilly: Flemion actuator array. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2004), Chap. 4, pp. 55–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, J., Xu, C., Taya, M. et al. Mechanical stability optimization of Flemion-based composite artificial muscles by use of proper solvent. Journal of Materials Research 21, 2018–2022 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2006.0245
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2006.0245