Reliability Tests for the Decreasing Driving Voltage of Ionic Polymer Metallic Composite in Opto-Electro-Mechanical System Applications
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Yu, Chung-Yi
Abstract
IPMC (Ionic Polymer Metallic Composite) is a kind of electroactive polymer (EAP) which is capable of exhibiting large property changes in response to electrical stimulation. IPMC is used as an actuator in opto-mechanical application because of its low driving voltage and small size. The mechanism of IPMC actuator is due to the ionic diffusion when the voltage gradient is applied, so that the type of ionic solution has a large impact on the physical properties of IPMC. In this paper, the reliability tests of IPMC with non-aqueous ionic solution are demonstrated. Pt-IPMC with LiOH aqueous solution exhibits the best maximum displacement, but the water in LiOH solution is electrolyzed because of the low electrolysis voltage 1.23 V of water. To improve electrolysis problems and the operation time in the air, proper solvents including high electrolysis voltage and low vapor pressure should be chosen. Parylene-coated IPMC module can also prevent IPMC from solvent loss. Traditional platinum electrodes are replaced by silver to decrease surface resistance which can be operated below the electrolysis voltage. The reliability tests focus on the durability of IPMC in dry air. The improvements of IPMC fabrication such as Ag-IPMC can be further developed in this paper. Through using parylene protection and ionic solution which has high electrolysis voltage, the life time of Ag-IPMC surviving in dry air is up to 15 times greater than uncoated Ag-IPMC with aqueous solution but IPMC still cannot survive in the air. We mentioned the possible problems for IPMC in actuation and found that the crack of electrodes has the main impact on the reliability of IPMC. The comparison of response time and tip bending displacement of Pt-IPMC and Ag-IPMC will also be presented.
Subjects
Electroactive polymer
Ag-IPMC actuator
ionic solution
Type
thesis
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