Publication: Ionic polymer-metal composites: manufacturing and characterization
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2015-07
Defense date
2015-07-10
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Abstract
This project focus on the investigation of ionic Electroactive Polymers (EAPs) as
an electrolyte in the creation of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMCs). The
polymer electrolyte is coated with a noble metal (gold) and used for the study of
actuation, that is, inducing a change in the shape of the material by the application of an
electric current.
Firstly a review in EAP actuators is provided, explaining the different mechanisms
of actuation, their applications and their potential improvements for future research and
work. Later on, it is explained how we built an IPMC and how we implemented
actuation in it.
Different techniques were used in order to characterize our material such as
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) or
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The material was also subjected to tensile tests
in an INSTRON machine to evaluate their strength and Young's modulus.
This work intends to demonstrate a simple and cheap method to build EAP
actuators with adequate properties in terms of stress, strain, actuation fatigue life and
efficiency for application in some fields as a safer, cheaper and suitable alternative to
conventional actuators.
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Keywords
Electroactive polymers (EAPs), Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC), Polymer membrane, Characterization, Manufacturing