Enhanced ionic polymer metal composite actuator with porous nafion membrane using zinc oxide particulate leaching method

In this study, to improve the performance of an ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC), we suggest a porous nafion membrane fabricated with the particulate leaching method with zinc oxide and propose an IPMC that uses the porous nafion membrane. To fabricate this membrane, the proper ratio of nafion and zinc oxide powder is dispersed in a solvent. Then the zinc oxide embedded in the nafion membrane is fabricated with a casting method. With the particulate leaching method, the embedded zinc oxide particles are dissolved by an acid solution, and the spaces of the zinc oxide particles changed to pores. Finally, through electroless plating and ion exchange procedures, an IPMC with the porous nafion membrane is fabricated. The proposed IPMC has higher water uptake (WUP) and ion exchange capacity (IEC) and can show better actuation performance compared to the conventional nafion-based IPMC. We also measure the actuation displacement and blocking forces of the proposed IPMC. Compared with the conventional nafion-based IPMC, the proposed IPMC with the porous nafion membrane has increased displacements: about 80% at ac input and about 250% at dc input, and increased blocking force about 130% at dc input.