Electromechanical performances of IPMC actuator enhanced by high-quality Pd/Pt electrodes

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) are considered to be promising candidates for artificial muscles due to their low-voltage-driven and flexible characteristics. Herein, Pd/Pt electrodes of high quality were fabricated on Nafion substrate by isopropanol-assisted electroless plating, and excellent electromechanical performance of IPMC actuators was achieved. The IPMC shows a decent tip displacement of 36.3 mm at a DC voltage of 4 V and responds well to AC voltages with no delay. Moreover, the imitation of biological behaviors has been demonstrated, such as petal opening/closing and wing flapping (21 Hz). This study provides a new idea for the preparation of high-quality metal electrodes and the obtained high-performance of IPMCs promises great potential for biomimetic applications.