Characterization and dynamic charge dependent modeling of conducting polymer trilayer bending

摘要

Trilayer bending actuators are charge driven devices that have the ability to function in air and provide large mechanical amplification. The electronic and mechanical properties of these actuators are known to be functions of their charge state making prediction of their responses more difficult when they operate over their full range of deformation. In this work, a combination of state space representation and a two-dimensional RC transmission line model are used to implement a nonlinear time variant model for conducting polymer-based trilayer actuators. Electrical conductivity and Young's modulus of electromechanically active PEDOT conducting polymer containing films as a function of applied voltage were measured and incorporated into the model. A 16% drop in Young's modulus and 24 times increase in conductivity are observed by oxidizing the PEDOT. A closed form formulation for radius of curvature of trilayer actuators considering asymmetric and location dependent Young's modulus and conductivity in the conducting polymer layers is derived and implemented in the model. The nonlinear model shows the capability to predict the radius of curvature as a function of time and position with reasonable consistency (within 4%). The formulation is useful for general trilayer configurations to calculate the radius of curvature as a function of time. The proposed electrochemical modeling approach may also be useful for modeling energy storage devices.