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Polypyrrole nanoparticles-based soft actuator for artificial muscle applications

IR@CMERI: CSIR- Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur

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Title Polypyrrole nanoparticles-based soft actuator for artificial muscle applications
 
Creator Khan, Ajahar
Alamry , Khalid A
Jain , Ravi Kant
 
Subject Nano-technology
 
Description Currently, a straightforward fabrication technique for the development of soft actuators to explore their potential in robotic applications using environmentally compatible raw materials represents an important challenge. A conventional conducting polymer, such as polypyrrole (PPy), shows promising conductivity for such applications. This study presents the synthesis of PPy/polyvinyl alcohol (PPy/PVA)-based ion exchange polymer films containing PEDOT:PSS/SWNT/IL electrodes that undergo conformational changes in response to the applied voltage. Four types of ionic polymer actuator films with different sizes of PPy nanoparticles were fabricated to investigate the size-dependent electromechanical actuation performance. The aim of this study is to design and develop a stable, flexible, and reliable film actuator for robotic applications. Scanning electron microscopy and transmittance electron microscopy were performed to observe the surface morphology and detailed structure of the fabricated actuator films. The current density and ionic conductivity are demonstrated by the cyclic voltammogram and linear sweep voltammogram, respectively. The enhanced values of the water uptake, ion exchange capacity and ionic conductivity of the PPy/PVA polymer composite films enhanced the electrical properties and the tip deflection performance as compared to those of the other reported expensive perfluorinated polymer-based membrane actuators. A two finger-based micro gripping device was also developed, in which both the fingers were made up of the O-PPy/PVA/EL-based ion exchange polymer films. This mechanically stable and flexible film actuator fabricated via a synergistic combination of PPy/PVA composition containing PEDOT:PSS/SWNT/IL electrode surfaces possesses a substantial potential as an actuator material for micro robotic applications.
 
Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry
 
Date 2019
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Identifier Khan, Ajahar and Alamry , Khalid A and Jain , Ravi Kant (2019) Polypyrrole nanoparticles-based soft actuator for artificial muscle applications. RSC Advances, 9. pp. 39721-39734.
 
Relation http://cmeri.csircentral.net/656/