Electro-active nano-composite actuator based on fullerene-reinforced Nafion

An electro-active artificial muscle based on the fullerene-reinforced ionic polymer membrane was newly developed to overcome some of the drawbacks of traditional ionic polymer-metal composite actuators. Tensile strength and Young's modulus more than doubled with addition of minute quantities of fullerenes. While the ion exchange capacity of the fullerene-Nafion membrane does not change appreciably, proton conductivity and water-uptake ratio that are the main factors for higher magnitude of actuation increased dramatically. The harmonic responses of the fullerene-reinforced ionic polymer actuators almost doubled and the frequency responses greatly improved in the low-frequency region. The straightening-back phenomenon of the fullerene-reinforced actuator was considerably reduced with the addition of fullerene nano-particles. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.