Carbon nanotube–graphene composite for ionic polymer actuators

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a new ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) by replacing a typical platinum or gold electrode with a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)–graphene based electrode. A solvent of MWNT and graphene is formed on both sides of the ionic polymer membranes as electrodes by means of spray coating and baking. Then, the ionic liquid process is performed for actuating in air. The four kinds of IPMC samples with different MWNT–graphene ratios are fabricated with the same solid Nafion film. Experimental results show that the IPMC with a pure MWNT based electrode exhibits higher displacement compared to the conventional IPMC with a platinum electrode. Also, the increment of the ratio of graphene to the MWNT–graphene electrode decreases the resultant displacement but increases the fundamental natural frequency of the polymer actuator.