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Behavior of polymer-based electroactive actuator incorporated with mild hydrothermally treated CNTs

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Abstract

We fabricated an actuator that was made from polyurethane (PU) with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the filler. To improve the dispersion of the CNTs, a mild hydrothermal treatment was carried out. Carboxyl and hydroxyl groups were introduced to the surface of the CNTs, and they were found to be highly dispersed in polar solvents such as dimethylformamide. To evaluate these films, we mainly focused on electrical properties, such as dielectric spectroscopy, space charge measurements, and actuator behavior. We found that the PU/CNTs film bents toward the cathode when an electric field was applied, and it reverted to its original position when the electric field was removed. Upon the inclusion of the CNTs as the filler for the polymer, the electrical properties of the films improved significantly. The highly polarized films had a high relative permittivity, and this produced a higher Maxwell pressure, which assisted the actuation. A high accumulated charge density was observed from space charge measurements in some of the films, and this explains the bending direction and the actuation mechanism.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants for Excellent Graduate Schools by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Tokida, Ueda, 386-8576, Japan

    Gan Jet Hong Melvin

  2. Department of Functional Machinery and Mechanics, Shinshu University, Tokida, Ueda, 386-8576, Japan

    Qing-Qing Ni & Toshiaki Natsuki

  3. Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China

    Qing-Qing Ni

Authors
  1. Gan Jet Hong Melvin
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  2. Qing-Qing Ni
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Correspondence to Qing-Qing Ni.

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Melvin, G.J.H., Ni, QQ. & Natsuki, T. Behavior of polymer-based electroactive actuator incorporated with mild hydrothermally treated CNTs. Appl. Phys. A 117, 2043–2050 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-014-8616-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-014-8616-8

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