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Journal of Bionic Engineering ›› 2018, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (6): 1047-1056.doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-018-0092-y

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

Maolin Wang1,2, Min Yu1*, Mingyue Lu1,2, Qingsong He1*, Keju Ji1, Lei Liu3   

  1. 1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Bionic Functional Materials, College of Astronautics,
    Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
    2. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
    3. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory for Interventional Medical Devices, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian 223003, China  
  • Received:2018-04-25 Revised:2018-05-30 Accepted:2018-09-21 Online:2018-11-10 Published:2018-11-23
  • Contact: Min Yu, Qingsong He E-mail:yumin@nuaa.edu.cn, heqingsong@nuaa.edu.cn
  • About author:Maolin Wang1,2, Min Yu1*, Mingyue Lu1,2, Qingsong He1*, Keju Ji1, Lei Liu3

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 ex-changing 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.

Key words: ionic polymer metal composite, electrode resistance, Cu2+ counter ions, actuation performance