Fabrication and Characterization of a Micromachined Swirl-Shaped Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Actuator with Electrodes Exhibiting Asymmetric Resistance

Fabrication and Characterization of a Micromachined Swirl-Shaped Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Actuator with Electrodes Exhibiting Asymmetric Resistance

This paper presents a swirl-shaped microfeatured ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator. A novel micromachining process was developed to fabricate an array of IPMC actuators on a glass substrate and to ensure that no shortcircuits occur between the electrodes of the actuator. We demonstrated a microfluidic scheme in which surface tension was used to construct swirl-shaped planar IPMC dev...

A novel fabrication of ionic polymer–metal composite membrane actuator capable of 3-dimensional kinematic motions

Ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs) are one type of wet electroactive polymers that show promising actuating properties in many bio-inspiring underwater robotic applications. In these applications, 3-dimensional kinematic motions are desirable to generate high efficient thrust and maneuverability. However, traditional IPMCs are limited in being only able to generate bending motion. In this p...

3D Modeling and Design Optimization of Rod Shaped Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Actuator

Modeling and Fabrication of Ionic Polymer-metal Composite (ipmc) Sensors

MODELING AND FABRICATION OF IONIC POLYMER-METAL COMPOSITE (IPMC) SENSORS By Hong Lei Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are an important class of electroactive polymers (EAPs) with built-in actuation and sensing capabilities. They have received tremendous interest for their potential in various sensor applications. In this dissertation, a physics-based dynamic model is proposed for cantilev...

Nanothorn electrodes for ionic polymer-metal composite artificial muscles

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) have recently received tremendous interest as soft biomimetic actuators and sensors in various bioengineering and human affinity applications, such as artificial muscles and actuators, aquatic propulsors, robotic end-effectors, and active catheters. Main challenges in developing biomimetic actuators are the attainment of high strain and actuation force at ...