Ionic polymer–metal composite applications

In this paper, the authors present a comprehensive review of ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs) covering their fundamentals, fabrication processes, characterization and applications. IPMCs are becoming increasingly popular among scholars, engineers and scientists due to their inherent properties of low activation voltage, large bending strain – that is, the transformation of electrical energy to mechanical energy – and properties to be used as a bidirectional material – that is, they can be used as actuators and sensors. Among the diversity of electroactive polymers, recently developed IPMCs are good candidates for use in biorelated applications because of their biocompatibility. The applications of IPMCs have been growing due to the progression in their manufacturing techniques, development of more accurate control models and recently demonstrated sophisticated IPMC actuator applications. This indicates that IPMC actuators hold potential for more sophisticated applications in control. Several recently reported IPMC fabrication processes, mechanical characteristics and performance and a number of recent IPMC applications have been reported in this paper. Extensive references are provided for a more in-depth explanation.