• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.112-120
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• 2003

The composite of ionic polymer and metal has been fabricated and used for actuators. Platinum is deposited by electroless plating method onto the both sides of ionic polymer where ac voltage is applied. This results in the bending motion of a beam type actuator. In this paper, the fabrication method of ionic polymer-metal composite has been explained and the moving mechanism has been fabricated and measured using the ionic polymer-metal composite actuator. The moving mechanism is wireless type and the power is supplied through the rail electrodes in base plate. The maximum speed of the moving mechanism was about 24cm/min.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.246-246
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• 2006

Ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) soaked with various ionic liquids was prepared by using polystyrene sulfonic acid-grafted poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) as ion-exchange membrane (IEM). The prepared IPMCs were effectively deformed three times larger and actuated for 300 times longer than those of Nafion with water at the same applied conditions. The experimental results indicated than the increase in the bending capability can be caused by the increase in the improved properties of the IEMs and ionic liquids such as uptake content and ionic conductivity. And air-operating stability of the IPMCs is appreciably governed by various physical and electrochemical properties of soaked solvents in IEMs.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.144-151
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• 2003

IPMC(Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite) is promising candidate material for bio-related actuators mainly due to its biocompatibility and wet and soft properties. The widely used commercialized Nafion film has a few kinds of fixed thicknesses but more various film thicknesses are required for extensive applications. Especially for the enhanced force as an actuator, the thick film is essential. Various Nafion films with thickness of 0.4-1.2mm have been prepared by casting of liquid Nafion. Also, IPMC actuators using casted Nafion films have been fabricated and the basic mechanical properties such as stiffness, displacement and force were measured and analyzed. These results can be used for the optimized design of actuators for different applications.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.601-607
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• 2002

IPMC(Ionic Polymer Metal Composite)actuators were optimized for producing improved forces by changing multiple parameters including repetition of number of plating, surface electroding and additive(PVP)-treatment on reduction. The platinum electrode is deposited on the surface of the material where platinum particle stay in a dense form that appears to introduce a significant level of surface electrode resistance. Actuation tests were performed for such IPMC actuators under a low voltage. The test results show that the lower surface-electrode resistance generates higher actuation capability in the IPMC actuators. In order to investigate relaxation behavior of bending and repeatability in dry condition, the IPMC was coated by$rubber(KRATON^{TM})$to minimize the effect of water evaporation from IPMC. This actuator can be used in air with surface coating to avoid membrane drying.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.401-407
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• 2016

IPMC is composed of thin ion conductive polymer film sandwiched between metallic electrodes plated on both surfaces. Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) generates voltages when bent by mechanical stimuli. IPMC has a potential for the variety of energy harvesting applications due to its soft and hydrophilic characteristics. However, the large-scale implementation is necessary to increase the output power. In this paper, the scale-up of surface area effect on voltage generation characteristics of IPMC was investigated using IPMC samples with different surface areas. Also, a circuit model simulating both the output voltage and its offset variations was designed for estimating the voltages from IPMC samples. The proposed model simulated the output voltages with offsets well corresponding to various frequencies of input bending motion. However, some samples showed that the increase of error between real and simulated voltages with time due to the nonlinear characteristic of offset variations.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.434-439
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• 2012

To improve the performance of ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators, Nafion films sandwiched with Nafion/conducting nanoparticulate electrospun webs were used as polymer electrolytes of IPMC. Multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and silver were the conducting nanoparticulates and the nanoparticles dispersed in a Nafion solution were electrospun. IPMCs with the Nafion/conducting nanoparticulate electrospun webs displayed improved displacements, response rates, and blocking forces. MWNT was superior to silver in terms of displacement and blocking force, and the webs without the conducting fillers also caused enhanced performances compared with the conventional IPMCs. These improvements were attributed to an elevated electrolyte flux through highly porous interlayers and capacitance induced by well dispersed conducting fillers, and low interfacial resistance between electrolyte and electrodes.

• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.383-388
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• 2015

Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) consisting of soft membrane plated by platinum electrode layers on both surfaces generates electric energy when subjected to various mechanical stimuli. The paper proposes a circuit model that describes the physical composition of IPMC to predict the voltage generation characteristic corresponding to bending motion. The parameter values in the model are identified to minimize the RMS error between the real and simulated outputs. Following the design of IPMC circuit model, the state observer of the model is designed by using pole placement technique which improves the model accuracy. State observer design technique is also applied to find the inverse model which estimates the input bending angles from the output voltage data. The results show that the inverse model estimates input bending angles fairly well enough for the further applications of IPMC not only as an energy harvester but also as a bending sensor.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.739-740
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• 2010

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.549-563
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• 2008

The ability of an electroactive polymer, IPMC (Ionic Polymer Metal Composites,) to produce electric charge under mechanical deformations may be exploited for the development of next generation of energy harvesters. Two different electrode types (gold and platinum) were employed for the experiments. The sample was tested under dynamic conditions, produced through programmed shaking. In order to evaluate the potential of IPMC for dry condition, these samples were treated with ionic liquid. Three modes of mechanical deformations (bending, tension and shear) were analyzed. Experimental results clearly indicate that IPMCs are attractive applicants for energy harvesting, with inherent advantages like flexibility, low cost, negligible maintenance and virtually infinite longevity. Besides, preliminary energy harvesting model of IPMC has been formulated based upon the work of previous investigators (Newbury 2002, Newbury and Leo 2002, Lee, et al. 2005, Konyo, et al. 2004) and the simulation results reciprocate experimental results within acceptable error.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1242-1250
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• 2011

Several biomimetic artificial muscles including the electro-active synthetic polymers (SSEBS, PSMI/PVDF, SPEEK/PVDF, SPSE, XSPSE, PVA/SPTES and SPEI), bio-polymers (Bacterial Cellulose and Cellulose Acetate) and nano-composite (SSEBS-CNF, SSEBS-$C_{60}$, Nafion-$C_{60}$ and PHF-SPEI) actuators are introduced in this paper. Also, some applications of the developed biomimetic actuators are explained including biomimetic robots and biomedical active devices. Present results show that the developed electro-active polymer actuators with high-performance bending actuation can be promising smart materials applicable to diverse applications.