An investigation of multimodal sensing capabilities of ionic polymer-metal composites

Abstract

This paper presents the novel multimodal sensing capabilities of ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) for measuring linear and rotational deformations. Two IPMC samples with Gold (Au) and black Platinum (Pt) electrodes were manufactured, and their responses under twisting and axial compression/tension were investigated. To perform consistent and rigorous experiments to study the multimodal sensing capabilities of the IPMC samples, an experimental test bed was developed that enabled the application of twisting, axial compression, and axial tension to the IPMC strips both in a separate and combined manner, while recording their generated voltage responses. Through rigorous experiments, this study demonstrates the unique sensing capabilities of IPMCs to create distributed nanosensing over the entire body of the IPMC sample. Upon various types of deformations, IPMCs were shown to generate unique and distinct output voltage signals that were highly correlated with the type of motions induced. In particular, the strongest correlations of more than 0.9 were found between the IPMCs' responses and the applied mechanical stimuli in the twisting and axial compression modes, while moderate correlations were observed in the axial tension mode. These results provide a proof-of-concept for the future use of IPMCs as flexible and versatile sensors for measuring linear and rotational motions in applications such as wearable soft robotics.

Developing next generation ionic polymer–metal composite materials: perspectives for enabling robotics and biomimetics

“…The multimodal sensing capabilities of IPMCs have recently been demonstrated, wherein IPMC sensors have been shown as effective detectors of torsional twisting and axial extension or compression. 12 Furthermore, the IPMC was capable of responding to these deformation mechanisms simultaneously. Pairs of deformation inputs were superimposed and the IPMC shows distinct responses to this multimodal input.…”

“…In a general robotics application, sensors may be required to detect inputs from a variety of stimuli, possibly simultaneously. The multimodal sensing capabilities of IPMCs have recently been demonstrated, wherein IPMC sensors have been shown as effective detectors of torsional twisting and axial extension or compression 12 . Furthermore, the IPMC was capable of responding to these deformation mechanisms simultaneously.…”

The effects of contact area on pressure sensing of ionic polymer metal composite sensor with a soft substrate

“…Ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) is one class of electroactive materials integrating actuation and sensing functions [1][2][3], which is widely used in the field of underwater propeller [4], micro gripper [5] and ionic sensing [6][7][8][9]. As shown in figure 1(a), a typical IPMC consists of an ionomeric layer (usually Nafion) and two metal electrodes to form a sandwich structure.…”

Actuation of ionic polymer-metal composites with alkali metal counterions—a molecular dynamics study

“…Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are electroactive polymers that are often utilized as soft actuators in a broad range of applications, from biomedical engineering to soft robotics [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Beyond their classical use as soft actuators, new and upcoming studies are exploring their potential as precision sensors and energy harvesting devices; see for example the recent review study [9] and recent studies since then [7,8,[10][11][12]]. An IPMC is comprised of a hydrated ionomeric membrane sandwiched between two metal electrodes [13].…”