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

Abstract

Abstract Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are electroactive polymer actuators that have been used as artificial muscles and have broad application prospects. In order to further improve the actuation performance of cylindrical IPMCs, Nafion rods with different diameters were prepared by extrusion process, and cylindrical IPMCs with high-quality Pt electrode layers were prepared by electroless plating in this study. The electrochemical properties and actuation performance of cylindrical IPMCs with various diameters were investigated. The tests show that the prepared cylindrical IPMCs have excellent electromechanical properties. As diameter increases, the blocking force and counter back-relaxation ability both increase significantly. Furthermore, the IPMCs with diameter of 3.0 mm under a DC voltage exhibits a superior blocking force (323.9 mN) and excellent power density (up to 139.41 W m−3). Moreover, the thick cylindrical IPMC can lift objects 400 times its weight, demonstrating exceptional load capacity, which shows great prospect of realizing artificial muscles.