Effect of spinning condition and fiber alignment on performance of ionic polymer gel actuators with nanofiber mat electrodes

• We developed a novel type actuator using conductive nanofiber mat as electrodes.
• The conductive nanofiber mat was prepared by electro-spinning method.
• The deformation could be controlled by spinning condition of the nanofibers.
• We also prepared aligned conductive nanofiber mat electrodes for actuators.
• The aligned nanofiber actuator showed anisotropic deformation.

We developed a novel type of actuator using conductive nanofiber mat electrodes, and investigated the relationship between the spinning solution concentration and the displacement of the actuator. The nanofiber mat was prepared using the electro-spinning method, and its conductivity was enhanced through the application of a conductive polymer coating. We used poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF/HFP) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) for the nanofiber mat and the conductive polymer coating, respectively. It was found that the nanofiber diameter decreased with decreasing spinning solution concentration, resulting in an increase in the specific surface area of the nanofiber mat. The displacement of the actuator increased with the decreasing spinning solution concentration of the nanofiber mat electrode (i.e., as the specific surface area increased). In addition, we developed an actuator containing aligned nanofiber mat electrodes, which could lead to anisotropic deformation.