Counterion and Diluent Effects on the Response of Ionic Polymer Transducers

Abstract

A parametric study is presented which investigates the effect that counterion and diluent have on the electrical and electromechanical response of the ionic polymer transducers (IPT). This series of experiments expands upon existing studies by incorporating the sensing and impedance characteristics of the ionic polymer in response to changes in the counterion species and the viscous and dielectric properties of the diluent. The counterions considered in this study include the monovalent and divalent metals Li⁺, Na⁺, Cs⁺, and Ca²⁺, as well as the larger organic cations tetraethylammonium (TEA⁺) and tetrabutylammonium (TBA⁺). Viscosity studies incorporate various water—glycerol mixtures which are tailored to yield viscosities from 1 cP (100% water) to 1500 cP (100% glycerol). Dielectric properties of the diluent are also considered in a study which compares the response of samples in water (78.4), acetonitrile (37.5), and butyl acetate (5.4). The results of these studies demonstrate the importance of the transducer's electrical response in regards to the electromechanical performance of the transducer in both actuation and sensing applications.

Keywords

ionic polymer transducer actuation sensing impedance response.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akle, B.J. , Hickner, M. , Leo, D.J. and McGrath, J.E. 2004. ``Correlation of Capacitance and Actuation in Ionomeric Polymer Transducers,'' Journal of Materials Science, 40(14): 3715—3724.

Akle, B.J. , Bennett, M.D. and Leo, D.J. 2005. ``Ionic Electroactive Hybrid Transducers,'' Proceedings of the Spie, 5759:153—164.

Bennett, M. and Leo, D. 2004. ``Ionic Liquids as Stable Solvents for Ionic Polymer Transducers ,'' Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 115:79—90.

Buechler, M. 2005. Variational Modeling of Ionic Polymer-Based Structures , Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Farinholt, K. and Leo, D. 2004a. ``Effects of Counterion, Solvent Type and Loading Condition on the Material Response of Ionic Polymer Transducers,'' Proceedings of the Spie, 5387:1—11.

Farinholt, K. and Leo, D. 2004b. ``Modeling of Electromechanical Charge Sensing in Ionic Polymer Transducers,'' Mechanics of Materials, 36:421—433.

Kothera, C.S. and Leo, D.J. 2005. ``Identification of the Nonlinear Response of Ionic Polymer Actuators using the Volterra Series,'' Journal of Vibration and Control, 11(4):519—541.

Nemat-Nasser, S. 2002. ``Micro-mechanics of Actuation of Ionic Polymer-metal Composites,'' Journal of Applied Physics, 92:2899—2915.

Nemat-Nasser, S. and Li, J. 2000. ``Electromechanical Response of Ionic Polymer Metal Composites ,'' Journal of Applied Physics, 87:3321—3331.

10.

Nemat-Nasser, S. and Wu, Y. 2004. ``Tailoring Actuation of Ionic Polymer-metal Composites through Cation Combination,'' Proceedings of the Spie, 5051:245—253.

11.

Nemat-Nasser, S. and Zamani, S. 2003. ``Experimental Study of Nafion- and Flemion-based Ionic Polymer-metal Composites with Ethylene Glycol as Solvent,'' Proceedings of the Spie, 5051:233—244.

12.

Newbury, K.M. 2002. Modeling, Characterization, and Control of Ionic Polymer Transducers, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , Blacksburg, Virginia.

13.

Oguro, K. , Kawami, Y. and Takenaka, H. 1992. ``Bending of an Ion-conducting Polymer Film-electrode composite by an Electric Stimulus at Low Voltage,'' Journal of Micromachine Society, 5:27—30.

14.

Sadeghipour, K. , Salomon, R. and Neogi, S. 1992. ``Development of a Novel Electrochemically Active Membrane and `Smart' Material Based Vibration Sensor/Damper,'' Smart Materials and Structures, 1:172—179.

15.

Shahinpoor, M. and Kim, K.J. 2000. ``Effects of Counter-ions on the Performance of IPMCs ,'' Smart Materials and Structures: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices, 3987:110—120.

16.

Shahinpoor, M. , Bar-Cohen, Y. , Simpson, J. and Smith, J. 1998. ``Ionic Polymer-metal Composites (IPMCs) as Biomimetic Sensors, Actuators and Artificial Muscles — A Review,'' Smart Materials and Structures, 7(6):R15—R30.