Kraton based ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator

In this study, the tip displacement, proton conductivity, current density, water uptake and ion exchange capacity of kraton non-perfluorinated IPMCs are examined and the results are compared with nafion based IPMCs membranes. The water holding capacity of kraton membrane and nafion film was found to be 308.69% and 16.20%, at 65 °C and 45 °C within 10 h of immersion time, respectively. The kraton membrane and nafion film have the ion exchange capacity of 1.9 and 0.75 meq g−1 of dry membrane, respectively. SEM studies revealed that the morphology of nafion membrane was negligibly affected after performing the action experiment while in kraton membrane ruptures and notable spaces at joint were observed. The electrical properties revealed better actuation performance of kraton membrane. The tip displacement for nafion and kraton membrane was also carried out at 3 V DC electrical voltages. Kraton film showed larger displacement and therefore actuation as compared to that of nafion film.