Thermal Microactuator Based on Temperature-sensitive Hydrogel

This paper presents the design, assembly and testing of a hydrogel-based thermal microactuator. N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) with 3-acrylamidopropionic acid is synthesized as a temperature-sensitive poly (NIPAAm-co-AAmPA). To control the actuation, a temperature control system based on thermoelectrical cooling (TEC) was built up with both a fast response time of 146 s and a high resolution of 0.1 °C. A miniaturized prototype was assembled and tested: the response time amounts to 12.2 min, just half of that of an actuator being heated up by a temperature chamber. The response time reduces with increasing temperature from 35 to 45 °C.