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Effects of Cu2+ Counter Ions on the Actuation Performance of Flexible Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Actuators

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Abstract

The resistance of Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) electrodes plays an important role in the actuation performance of IPMC actuators. Owing to crack formation on the surface of platinum electrode, the surface resistance of the electrode increases, which greatly limits its actuating performance. In this paper, we proposed a new method of dynamic self-repair electrodes by exchanging Cu2+ into the IPMC basement membrane. IPMC actuators with Cu2+ were prepared and the actuation performance in the air was subsequently measured. Compared with conventional IPMC actuators containing Li+ counter ions, those containing Cu2+ counter ions exhibited 2 times –3 times larger displacement and 2 times–3 times bigger blocking force. In the morphology observation, we found that many small copper particles scattered in the middle of cracks after several bending cycles, which leads to an obvious decrease in electrode resistance. In the Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) scan measurement, we observed that the oxidation reaction of copper alternates with reduction reaction of copper ions with the change of voltage polarity, which was a dynamic process. Based on these analyses, it is concluded that the presence of Cu2+ can repair the damaged electrodes and induce lower electrode resistance, thus leading to the performance improvement of actuation.

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Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1637101) and NSFC (51605220 and 51175251), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20160793), the Open Project Fund in Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory for Interventional Medical Devices (jr1601), the Open Project Fund in Hubei Key Laboratory of Hydroelectric Machinery Design & Maintenance (2017KJX11). This is a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Spacecraft Mechanism and Science and Technology Commission of the Military Commission.

Special thanks to Andrew Jackson, PhD, for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Bionic Functional Materials, College of Astronautics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Maolin Wang, Min Yu, Mingyue Lu, Qingsong He & Keju Ji

  2. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Maolin Wang & Mingyue Lu

  3. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory for Interventional Medical Devices, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, 223003, China

    Lei Liu

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  1. Maolin Wang
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  2. Min Yu
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  3. Mingyue Lu
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  4. Qingsong He
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Correspondence to Min Yu or Qingsong He.

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Wang, M., Yu, M., Lu, M. et al. Effects of Cu2+ Counter Ions on the Actuation Performance of Flexible Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Actuators. J Bionic Eng 15, 1047–1056 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-018-0092-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-018-0092-y

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