Sulfoanted poly(ether ether ketone) membranes were prepared by the sulfonating agent sulfuric acid. These membranes were modifed by incorporating conducting polymer polypyrrole in order to increase the ionic conductivity and reduce the methanol transmission rate. The modifed composite membranes were then compared on the basis of ionic conductivity, methanol transmission...

The presented research introduces a new Ionic Polymer-Metal-ZnO Composite (IPMZC) demonstrating photoluminescence (PL)-quenching on mechanical bending or application of an electric field. The newly fabricated IPMZC integrates the optical properties of ZnO and the electroactive nature of Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC) to enable a non-contact read-out of IPMC response. The electro-mechano-...

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...

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) generate large bending motions under a low driving voltage (about 1 V). In this paper quasi-static actuation of IPMC is investigated with the goal of precise positioning. It is found that IPMC exhibits hysteresis between its bending curvature and the applied quasi-static voltage. The Preisach operator is proposed to model the hysteresis, and its density fu...

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 ...

A dynamic, physics-based model is presented for ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) sensors. The model is an infinite-dimensional transfer function relating the short-circuit sensing current to the applied deformation. It is obtained by deriving the exact solution to the governing partial differential equation (PDE) for the sensing dynamics, where the effect of distributed surface resistance i...

In this paper, we present a survey of sh-like propulsion at millimeter scale in order to build high eÆciency swimming microrobots. We begin with a mechanical study of the sh-like propulsion. The mechanical model we used shows that undulatory motions are more eÆcient than oscillatory motions. We applied these theoretical results to the design and the realization of a microrobot propelled by the ...