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In-Situ Measurement of Actuation in Thin Films of Conducting Polymers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Lauren C. Montemayor ,
Priam Vasudevan Pillai  and
Ian W Hunter
Lauren C. Montemayor
Affiliation:
[email protected], Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Priam Vasudevan Pillai
Affiliation:
[email protected]@gmail.com, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, 77 Massachusetts Ave 3-147, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, United States, 6172588628
Ian W Hunter
Affiliation:
[email protected], Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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Abstract

Conducting polymer materials can be developed as muscle-like actuators for applications in robotics, micro-electro mechanical systems, drug delivery systems etc. These materials are available in a large number of different varieties that can be synthesized and processed in different ways. However, their applications as actuators are limited due to the inability to create conducting polymer materials with robust mechanical properties. Currently most of the dynamic mechanical analysis technologies require the polymer created to be free standing and able to withstand large stresses. This severely limits the development of new materials with potential actuator applications. In this study, a technique to measure the actuation of polymers in the electrochemical deposition environment is described. This allows testing of an electrochemically grown conducting polymer sample on the surface of the deposition electrode itself. Thin polypyrrole films (2 to 20 microns thick) doped with tetraethylammonium hexaflourophosphate were grown on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode. These films were then tested on the surface of the glassy carbon using a custom built electrochemical dynamic mechanical analyzer. A square wave potential (+/- 0.8 V) is applied to the films that results in the actuation of the films. The films are able to generate a changing force of 3 mN of force against a 0.1 N sensor preloaded at 5 mN. The resulting magnitude of the measured force is a function of the film thickness while the change in force due to actuation is approximately constant.

Keywords

actuatorpolymerbiomimetic (assembly)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1222: Symposium DD – Microelectromechanical Systems — Materials and Devices III , 2009 , 1222-DD03-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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