Electro-active nano-composite actuator based on fullerene-reinforced Nafion

An electro-active artificial muscle based on the fullerene-reinforced ionic polymer membrane was newly developed to overcome some of the drawbacks of traditional ionic polymer–metal composite actuators. Tensile strength and Young’s modulus more than doubled with addition of minute quantities of fullerenes. While the ion exchange capacity of the fullerene–Nafion membrane does not change appreciably, proton conductivity and water-uptake ratio that are the main factors for higher magnitude of actuation increased dramatically. The harmonic responses of the fullerene-reinforced ionic polymer actuators almost doubled and the frequency responses greatly improved in the low-frequency region. The straightening-back phenomenon of the fullerene-reinforced actuator was considerably reduced with the addition of fullerene nano-particles.