• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1242-1250
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• 2011

Several biomimetic artificial muscles including the electro-active synthetic polymers (SSEBS, PSMI/PVDF, SPEEK/PVDF, SPSE, XSPSE, PVA/SPTES and SPEI), bio-polymers (Bacterial Cellulose and Cellulose Acetate) and nano-composite (SSEBS-CNF, SSEBS-$C_{60}$, Nafion-$C_{60}$ and PHF-SPEI) actuators are introduced in this paper. Also, some applications of the developed biomimetic actuators are explained including biomimetic robots and biomedical active devices. Present results show that the developed electro-active polymer actuators with high-performance bending actuation can be promising smart materials applicable to diverse applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.495-498
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• 2002

Recently, the advent of electro-active papers (EAPap) actuators has been reported. In this paper, the possibility of the actuators is demonstrated. EAPap is a paper that produces large displacement with small force under an electrical excitation. EAPap is made with a chemically treated paper by constructing thin electrodes on both sides of the paper. When electrical voltage is applied on the electrodes the EAPap produces bending displacement. To improve the bending performance of EAPap, different paper fibers-softwood, hardwood, bacteria cellulose, cellophane, carbon mixture paper, electrolyte containing paper and Korean traditional paper, in conjunction with additive chemicals were tested. Two attempts were made to construct the electrodes: the direct use of aluminum foil and the gold sputtering technique. It was found that a cellophane paper exhibits a remarkable bending performance. When 2MV/m of excitation voltage was applied on the paper actuator, more than 3mm of tip displacement was observed out of the 30 mm long paper beam. This is quite low excitation voltage compared to that of other EAPs. The actuation principle of electro-active paper (EAPap) and possible applications are addressed.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.108-116
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• 2019

Electro-active polymers and dielectric elastomers have many intriguing properties that enable smart interfaces and electrically tunable optical systems, such as haptic feedback devices, artificial muscles, and expansion-tunable optical elements. These device classes are of great interest owing to their promising roles in next-generation technologies including virtual or augmented reality, human sensing and muscular enhancement, and artificial skins. In this report, we review basic principles, current state-of-the-art techniques, and future prospects of electro-active and dielectric elastomer technology. We describe chemical and physical properties of the most promising polymer substances, essential elementary architectures for artificial muscle-like functionalities, and their applications to haptic interfaces, muscular enhancement, and focus-tunable optical elements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.275-278
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• 2004

Electro-Active Paper (EAPap) is attractive for EAP actuator due to its merit in terms of light weight, dry condition, large displacement output, low actuation voltage and low power consumption. The EAPap is based on cellulose paper, and is shown to involve primarily transport of ions in response to an external electric field. This actuating mechanism is similar to conductive polymer based actuators. For performance improvement of EAPap, hybrid actuators are tried. The actuators based on cellulose paper attached conducting polypyrrole, polyaniline and single wall carbon nanotube/polyaniline(emeraldine base) have been achieved by Electro chemical deposition and mechanical deposition of the polymers onto cellulose paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.387-388
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• 2013

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.981-990
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• 2004

Specialized propulsors for naval applications have numerous opportunities in terms of research, design and fabrication of an appropriate propulsor. One of the most important components of any propulsor is the actuator that provides the mode of locomotion. Ionomeric electro-active polymer may offer an attractive solution for locomotion of small propulsors. A common ionomeric electro-active polymer, ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPHCs) give large true bending deformations under low driving voltages, operate in aqueous environments, are capable of transduction and are relatively well understood. IPMC fabrication and operation are presented to further elucidate the use of the material for a propulsor. Various materials, including IPMCs, are investigated and a simplified propulsor model is explored.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.57-64
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• 2021

This paper reviews recent developments and applications of dielectric elastomers (DEs) and suggests various techniques to improve DE properties. DEs as smart materials are a variety of electro-active polymers (EAPs) that convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and cause a large deformation when a voltage is applied. The dielectric constant, modulus, and dielectric loss of DEs determine the efficiency of deformation. Among these, the dielectric constant significantly affects their performance. Therefore, various recent approaches to improve the dielectric constant are reviewed, including the enhancement of polarization, introduction of microporous structures in the matrix, and introduction of ferroelectric fillers. Furthermore, the basic principles of DEs are examined, as well as their various applications such as actuators, generators, sensors, and artificial muscles.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.423.1-423.1
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• 2016

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has drawn much attention due to its many advantages. PVDF shows high mechanical strength and flexibility, thermal stability, and good piezoelectricity enabling its application to various fields such as sensors, actuators, and energy transducers. Further studies have been conducted on PVDF in the form of thin films. The thin films exhibit different ionic conductivity according to the number of pores within the film, letting these films to be applied as electrolytes or separators of batteries. Porous PVDF membranes are also easily processed, usually made by using electrospinning. However, a large portion of researches were conducted using PVDF membranes produced by far field electrospinning, which is not a well-controlled experimental method. In this paper, we use near field electrospinning (NFES) process for more controlled, small-scaled, mesh type PVDF structures of nano to micro fibers fabricated by controlling process parameters and investigate the properties of such membranous structures. These membranes vary according to geometrical shape, pore density, and fiber thickness. We then measured the mechanical strength and piezoelectric characteristic of the structures. With various geometries in the fiber structures and various scales in the fibers, these types of structures can potentially lead to broader applications for stretchable electronics and dielectric electro active polymers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.539-543
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• 2012

Cellulose Electro-Active Paper (EAPap) is attractive as a biomimetic actuator because of its merits: it is lightweight, operates in dry conditions, has a large displacement output, has a low actuation voltage, and has low power consumption. Cellulose is regenerated so as to align its microfibrils, which results in a piezoelectric paper. When chemically bonded and mixed with carbon nanotubes, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxides, the cellulose EAPap can be used as a hybrid nanocomposite that has versatile properties and that can meet the requirements of many application devices. This paper presents trends in recent research on the cellulose EAPap, mainly on material preparation and its use in devices, including biosensors, chemical sensors, flexible transistors, and actuators. This paper also explains wirelessly driving technology for the cellulose EAPap, which is attractive for use in biomimetic robotics and micro-aerial vehicles.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.524-529
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• 2006

New, thermally robust, arylenevinylene conjugated polymers, including poly(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-vinylene) [poly(FV)] and poly[2-(3'-dimethyldodecylsilylphenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] [poly(m-SiPhPV)], were synthesized and used for the fabrication of efficient photovoltaic cells. Bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells fabricated by blending one of the polymers, [poly(FV)], [poly(m-SiPhPV)], and poly(FV-co-m-SiPhPV), with the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-$C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) were found to have a power conversion efficiency of up to 0.038%..