We investigate the influence of ionic liquids on the electromechanical performance of Ionic Polymer Conductor Network Composite (IPCNC) bending actuators. Two imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) with one cation, which is 1-ethyl-3- methylimidazolium ([EMI+]), and two different anions, which are tetrafluoroborate ([BF4-]) and trifluoromethanesulfonate ([Tf-]), are chosen for the study. By combining the time domain electric and electromechanical responses, we developed a new model that describes the ion transports in IPCNC actuators. The time constant of excess cation and anion migration in various composite electrodes are deduced: 6s and 25s in RuO2/Nafion; 7.9s and 36.3s in RuO2/Aquivion; 4.8s and 53s in Au/PAH, respectively. NMR is also applied to provide quantitative measures of self-diffusion coefficients independently for IL anions and cations both in pure ILs and in ILs absorved into ionomers. All the results indicate that the motion of cation, in the studied pure ionic liquids, polymer matrix and conductor network composites, is faster than that of anion. Moreover, the CNC morphology is playing a crucial role in determining the ion transport in the porous electrodes.

Date Published: 9 April 2010
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 7642, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010, 76421A (9 April 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.847618

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7642:
Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Editor(s)