Tunable actuation behavior of ionic polymer metal composite utilizing carboxylated carbon nanotube-doped Nafion matrix

Abstract

In this study, we propose to neutralize the relaxation deformation of Nafion-ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) by slow anode deformation of Flemion-IPMC caused by carboxyl groups (-COOH). Carboxylated carbon nanotubes (CCNT) as -COOH carriers were doped into a Nafion matrix. By adjusting the doping content from 0 wt% to 10 wt%, an IPMC with constant steady-state deformation has been achieved at a critical CCNT content of 2 wt%. Moreover, the increasing rate of the slow anode deformation with the CCNT content is tunable, which is found to be 2.26 mm s-1 %-1.