A review on IPMC material as actuators and sensors: Fabrications, characteristics and applications

Abstract

In this paper we present a comprehensive review of ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) covering fundamentals of IPMC; from fabrication processes to control and applications. IPMC is becoming an increasingly popular material among scholars, engineers and scientists due to its inherent property of low activation voltage, large bending strain, i.e., transformation electrical energy to mechanical energy, and properties to be used as bidirectional material, i.e., it can be used as actuators and sensors. Among the diversity of electro active polymers (EAPs), recently developed IPMCs are good candidates for use in bio-related application because of their biocompatibility. Yet, the challenge remains in controlling a somewhat complicated material as mechanical, electrical and chemical properties interact with each other in the ionic polymer. Several IPMC fabrication processes, their mechanical characteristics and performance, a number of recent IPMC applications and pertaining mathematical modeling have been reported in this paper. Also we have attempted to present concisely the control of IPMC and effects of various factors in the performance of IPMC. The applications of IPMC have been growing, and recently more sophisticated IPMC actuator applications have been performed. This indicates that the IPMC actuators hold potential for more sophisticated control application. Extensive references are provided for more indepth explanation.

Transparent and conformal 'piezoionic' touch sensor

“…Ionic polymer metal composites form similar structures in which the electrodes on the top and bottom are now highly porous, and surround a polyelectrolyte such as NafionTM. These are also known to develop voltages and currents when they are bent [27], with the composite generating voltage in response to bending induced differential stress within the thickness of the film. In these materials only mechanical energy input is needed to generate voltage or current, in analogy to the effect in piezoelectric materials.…”

Feasibility studies of Arduino microcontroller usage for IPMC actuator control

“…For error over total acquisition period, IPMC t2 with lower frequency reference input shows minimum error (e rms 3.12 %), while IPMC t2 with higher frequency contains highest error (e rms 28.70 %). Therefore, we can conclude that, with improvements in term of analog read sampling rate and analog write resolution, Arduino microcontroller has capability to accurately control (1) (2) and analyse the IPMC actuator, thus manage to replace expensive and bulky current DAQ hardware for small autonomous device.…”

“…Figure 6 suggests that thicker IPMC which required higher proportional controller value have lower response speed. As explained throughout many journals, thicker IPMC added with bigger Lithium cation effect will produce slower response speed, trade-off with actuation force improvement [1,2].…”

Gold Nanoparticle Treated Textile-Based Materials for Potential use as Wearable Sensors

“…A wide variety of materials including polymers, ferroelectric ceramics, piezoelectric semiconductors and shape memory films have been studied and used to manufacture an assortment of chemical sensors [1][2][3]. These sensors have been used in a wide variety of applications such as gas detection, food processing, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals [4][5][6][7][8].…”