Electroactive artificial muscle based on crosslinked PVA/SPTES

Based on a crosslinked ionic networking membrane of sulfonated poly(arylenethioethersulfone) copolymer (SPTES) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a novel biomimetic artificial muscle with electrically driven bending deformation was developed. Sulfonated endcapped poly(arylenethioethersulfone) copolymer (SPTES) was synthesized through direct copolymerization of sulfonated monomers and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was crosslinked with SPTES by the dehydration method. The crosslinking reaction and molecular interactions between PVA and SPTES were observed in the FT-IR spectra of the PVA/SPTES ionic networking membrane. In comparison with the Nafion membrane, the crosslinked PVA/SPTES membrane shows much higher proton conductivity and ionic exchangeable capacity that are main factors influencing the actuation performance. Electroactive PVA/SPTES actuators show much larger bending deformation under step inputs without straightening-back relaxation and harmonic responses under sinusoidal excitations in a wide frequency band.