Characterization of IPMC strip sensorial properties: preliminary results

Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMCs) are innovative materials obtained by deposition of a metal on an ionic polymer membrane. IPMCs bend, when an electric field is applied along their thickness, and vice versa generate a voltage when they are mechanically deformed. Hence, it makes sense to investigate the opportunity to use IPMCs to build either actuators or sensors. IPMCs can be of interest because they need few volts to bend. Such an activation voltage is much lower than that required by other moving actuators (e.g. piezoelectric materials require hundreds of volts). In this work some results of the analysis of sensing properties of an IPMC strip are presented. Experimental data suggest that the output voltage is roughly linear in deformation. Moreover, a nonlinear behavior seems to occur under particular conditions. To our knowledge, such a behavior has not has been reported before in the literature.