PMID- 27023549
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160809
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 1424-8220 (Electronic)
IS  - 1424-8220 (Linking)
VI  - 16
IP  - 4
DP  - 2016 Mar 25
TI  - Investigation on the Mechanical and Electrical Behavior of a Tuning Fork-Shaped 
      Ionic Polymer Metal Composite Actuator with a Continuous Water Supply Mechanism.
PG  - 433
LID - 10.3390/s16040433 [doi]
LID - 433
AB  - This paper presents an innovative tuning fork-shaped ionic polymer metal 
      composite (IPMC) actuator. With an integrated soft strain gauge and water supply 
      mechanism (WSM), the surface strain of the actuator can be sensed in situ, and 
      providing a continuous water supply maintains the water content inside the IPMC 
      for long-term operation in air. The actuator was fabricated using a 
      micromachining technique and plated with a nickel electrode. The device 
      performance was experimentally characterized and compared with an actuator 
      without a WSM. A large displacement of 1.5 mm was achieved for a 6 mm-long prong 
      with 7-V dc actuation applied for 30 s. The measured current was analyzed using 
      an electrochemical model. The results revealed that the faradaic current plays a 
      crucial role during operation, particularly after 10 s. The measured strain 
      confirms both the bending and axial strain generation during the open-and-close 
      motion of the actuator prongs. Most of the water loss during device operation was 
      due to evaporation rather than hydrolysis. The constructed WSM effectively 
      maintained the water content inside the IPMC for long-term continuous operation.
FAU - Feng, Guo-Hua
AU  - Feng GH
AD  - Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 
      621, Taiwan. imeghf@ccu.edu.tw.
AD  - Advanced Institute of Manufacturing with High-Tech Innovations, National Chung 
      Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan. imeghf@ccu.edu.tw.
FAU - Huang, Wei-Lun
AU  - Huang WL
AD  - Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 
      621, Taiwan. ben_77920@hotmail.com.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20160325
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Sensors (Basel)
JT  - Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
JID - 101204366
PMC - PMC4850947
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - cation
OT  - composite
OT  - electrochemical model
OT  - faradaic current
OT  - ionic polymer
EDAT- 2016/03/31 06:00
MHDA- 2016/03/31 06:01
PMCR- 2016/04/01
CRDT- 2016/03/30 06:00
PHST- 2016/02/16 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2016/03/14 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2016/03/21 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2016/03/30 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2016/03/31 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/03/31 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2016/04/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - s16040433 [pii]
AID - sensors-16-00433 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/s16040433 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Sensors (Basel). 2016 Mar 25;16(4):433. doi: 10.3390/s16040433.