Soft Ionic Electroactive Polymer Actuators with Tunable Non-Linear Angular Deformation.

ABSTRACT: The most rational approach to fabricate soft robotics is the implementation of soft actuators. Conventional soft electromechanical actuators exhibit linear or circular deformation, based on their design. This study presents the use of conjugated polymers, Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) to locally vary ion permeability of the ionic electroactive polymer actuators and manipulate ion motion through means of structural design to realize intrinsic angular deformation. Such angular deformations are closer to biomimetic systems and have potential applications in bio-robotics. Electrochemical studies reveal that the mechanism of actuation is mainly associated with the charging of electric double layer (EDL) capacitors by ion accumulation and the PEDOT:PSS layer

SUBMITTER: Hong W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5554045 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature