초록 |
We investigate the electromechanical properties of ionic polymer actuators based on sulfonated block copolymers and imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) to develop a new electroactive actuator for a variety of biomimetic technologies ranging from robotics and microsensors to artificial muscles. Our actuators demonstrated up to a 10 times increase in the bending strain, compared to actuators based on conventional poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) with the same type of IL. The new actuator also demonstrated no signs of back relaxation, the millimetre-scale displacements with rapid response (<1 s) at sub-1-V conditions, and durable motions over 13,500 cycles in air. The key to success stemmed from the self-assembled structure of sulfonated block copolymers having continuous ionic phases with highly interactive –SO3H surfaces, which facilitated fast ion diffusion with a reduced tendency to form ion clusters. |