Study of a Conducting Nafion Film-Gold Electrode Actuator

Abstract

For conventional electrical actuators, the materials are mainly made up of metals, which mean they are prone to corrosion and electrical sparking. Replacing these systems with polymer metal composite based materials can be solved both problems. Considering their excellent electromechanical property, low device fabrication cost, light weight, and good electrical conductivity, the actuator based on ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) was fabricated using Nafion film, NaOH 0.1 molar solution, and Au electrode. IPMCs exhibit good electrostatic property which means they can in principle be used in making actuators based on electromechanical motions. The resistance measurements of Nafion film after soaking in NaOH and deionized water were demonstrated and compared each other. The result of sample soaked in NaOH showed better electrical conductivity than in deionized water. The fabricated IPMC actuator exhibits a large deformation of bending displacement of approximately 9 mm with applied low AC voltage 6.89 V at 2.84 Hz. The result of computer simulation was also very similar and shown as a bending displacement of 8.6085 mm.