Nonuniformly Charged Ionic Polymer–Metal Composite Actuators: Electromechanical Modeling and Experimental Validation

An ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) is an electroactive material that behaves in an electric field similarly to biological muscles. This intelligent material is leading to a new emerging technology called nonuniformly charged IPMC actuators. This paper introduces first an IPMC analytical modeling approach for its electromechanical characterization. The model considers, for the first time, the action of gravitation force in its electric and mechanic characteristics, which is important for large IPMC actuators. To demonstrate the efficacy of the model, two nonuniformly charged IPMC actuators were fabricated and tested. Experimental results are presented to validate the model and verify its effectiveness in the design of nonuniformly charged IPMC actuators.