Sulfonated Polyamide Based IPMCs

Abstract

In this study, we introduce a newly developed Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) family that is manufactured using a novel ionic exchange membrane-a randomly sulfonated fluoropoly(ether amide) (TFIPA-90)-as the base material. The thermal behavior and mechanical properties of the ionic polymer were probed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Electrochemical properties and the actuation performance of the TFIPA-90 based IPMCs were also investigated in this study. The stiffness of the TFIPA polymer was significantly higher than that of Nafion® and much noted at high temperatures (>100 oC). The thermal behavior of the TFIPA polymer also showed better stability than Nafion^(R) at high temperatures due to the more rigid chemical structure of the ionomer. As an actuator, a new IPMC prepared from TFIPA-90 showed improved performance with rapid response time to the electric field and a large bending displacement. The TFIPA-based IPMC may be useful for microwave-driven robotic applications.