Research on PVDF displacement sensor used on IPMC

According to the great flexibility and potential instability of ionic exchange polymer metal composites (IPMC), this paper presents a displacement sensor that detects the change of maximum displacement from IPMC actuator in real time. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based sensors are designed and fabricated. The feasibility analysis and a model of PVDF displacement sensor are presented. The model and measured results are compared and a corrected model of displacement sensor is given. A simple packaging technology and a novel method of installation are presented based on many experiments, which solves the problems caused by IPMC electrolyzing water. Experimental results show that the PVDF sensors based on the novel installation can detect the driving state of IPMC accurately.