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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 48: P13: Charged Soft Matter

CPP 48.4: Poster

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 10:00–13:00, Poster A

The effect of miniaturization on the performance of IPMC — •virendra vikram singh, parisa bakhtiarpour, othmar marti, and masoud amirkhani — Institute of experimental physics, Ulm university, Germany

Ionic Polymer Metal composites (IPMC) are electroactive polymer (EAP) that bends in response to a small applied electric field as a result of the mobility of cations in the polymer network. IPMC is made of an Ionic polymer membrane such as Nafion covered on both sides by metallic layers, to form the electrodes. This type of polymer is light material and needs a low driving voltage so it is an excellent candidate for smart microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). However, using IPMC for smart MEMS is still a cutting-edge technology, and many modifications and improvements must be done for real-world applications. As a first step, one should understand the performance of IPMC in the millimeter and micrometer scale. Generally, IPMC thickness is around 0.2 mm but length and width are several orders of magnitude bigger than the thickness. Here we present results of actuating and sensing ability when the width and thickness of IPMC are in the same order of magnitude.