Processing and Modification of Ionic Polymers Metal Composites (IPMC) - A Review

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of various innovative fabrication approaches and the potential applications of ionic polymer metal composites (IPMC), which is a composite material consisting of a polymer membrane sandwiched between two thin electrode layers. When given a voltage within a range of 1-5V, cations inside accompanying with water molecules of IPMC move across the width of the material causing a uniform water distribution and finally to achieve it’s bending motion. In addition to a classical processing method, three innovative modification approaches are recommended to fabricate IPMC, particularly to settle water electrolysis and leakage for multiple practical applications. Also, three applications are extensively highlighted in the later pages of the paper. This is a very new field and with the research done so far, it is believed that IPMC has a potential which is worth research elaborately. This paper presents an overview of the manufacturing components, techniques, related problems and applications of IPMC. Additionally, it recommends innovative modification fabrication approaches to subdue the associated problems in the existing conventional fabrication processing.