Grzegorz Bubak

Parylene-Coated Ionic Liquid–Carbon Nanotube Actuators for User-Safe Haptic Devices

Simple fabrication, high power-to-weight and power-to-volume ratios, and the ability to operate in open air at low voltage make the ionic electroactive polymer actuators highly attractive for haptic applications. Whenever a direct tactile stimulation of the skin is involved, electrical and chemical insulation as well as a long-term stability of the actuator are required. Because of its inherent physicochemical properties such as high dielectric strength, resistance to solvents, and biological inactivity, Parylene C meets the requirements for making biocompatible actuators. We have studied the displacement and the generated force of Parylene-coated carbon nanotube actuators as well as the encapsulation quality. A 2 μm coating creates an effective electrical insulation of the actuators without altering the blocking force at frequencies from 50 mHz to 1 Hz. Moreover, the generated strain is preserved at higher frequencies (from 0.5 to 5 Hz). We employed a simple mechanical model to explain the relation between the key parameters-flexural stiffness, displacement, and force-for uncoated and coated actuators. In addition, we demonstrated that our Parylene-coated actuators are not damaged by rinsing in liquid media such as 2-propanol or water. In conclusion, our results indicate that Parylene C encapsulated actuators are safe to touch and can be used in contact with human skin and in biomedical applications in direct contact with tissues and physiological fluids.

Bucky gel actuators optimization towards haptic applications

An ideal plastic actuator for haptic applications should generate a relatively large displacement (minimum 0.2-0.6 mm, force (~50 mN/cm2) and a fast actuation response to the applied voltage. Although many different types of flexible, plastic actuators based on electroactive polymers (EAP) are currently under investigation, the ionic EAPs are the only ones that can be operated at low voltage. This property makes them suitable for applications that require inherently safe actuators. Among the ionic EAPs, bucky gel based actuators are very promising. Bucky gel is a physical gel made by grounding imidazolium ionic liquids with carbon nanotubes, which can then be incorporated in a polymeric composite matrix to prepare the active electrode layers of linear and bending actuators. Anyhow, many conflicting factors have to be balanced to obtain required performance. In order to produce high force a large stiffness is preferable but this limits the displacement. Moreover, the bigger the active electrode the larger the force. However the thicker an actuator is, the slower the charging process becomes (it is diffusion limited). In order to increase the charging speed a thin electrolyte would be desirable, but this increases the probability of pinholes and device failure. In this paper we will present how different approaches in electrolyte and electrode preparation influence actuator performance and properties taking particularly into account the device ionic conductivity (which influences the charging speed) and the electrode surface resistance (which influences both the recruitment of the whole actuator length and its speed).

Functional materials from polymer derivatives

This chapter summarizes properties and characterization of a broad range of functional polymeric materials. The attention is drawn toward hybrid polymers for electroactive applications. The first section describes photoactive polymer materials for optoelectronics with a focus on the properties and characterization techniques. The second section examines the physicochemical properties of polymeric materials for storing and transducing energy as well as techniques to characterizing them. More specifically, functional materials that have found applications in supercapacitors and carbon nanotube-based hybrid actuators will be discussed. Each section comprises an overview of material characterization techniques with chosen literature examples preceded by an introduction of the necessary general background.

Cross-linked carbon nanotubes buckygel actuators: an in-depth study

Recently, materials that can convert electrical energy into mechanical work have drawn great attention. Applications in robotics, tactile or optical displays and microelectrochemical systems are currently investigated. Likewise, interest in actuators devices is increasing toward applications where low voltage and low weight properties are required. One way to achieve such prerequisites is to combine the mechanical and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the stability and conductivity of ionic liquids. Indeed, the CNTs can be dispersed in ionic liquids to form hybrid composites also named bucky gels, thanks to the non-covalent (π-π stacking and cation-π) interactions. In our previous studies, we demonstrated an improvement in actuator performance whilst using cross-linked CNTs. Indeed, our preliminary results showed an increase in the capacitance together with a faster response of the actuator. At the time, these results were explained by an actuation mechanism model. Herein, we designed new experiments in order to allow us to get a deeper insight in the effect the crosslinking process on the carbon nanotubes properties. Thus, we present a set of electromechanical and electrochemical data that shed light on the chemical modification of the CNTs, the different cross-linking strategies and also on the uses of cross-linked CNTS polymer blends. Finally, corresponding bucky gels actuators performances will also be discussed.

Parylene coated carbon nanotube actuators for tactile stimulation

Ionic liquid/carbon nanotube based actuators have been constantly improved in recent years owing to their suitability for applications related to human-machine interaction and robotics thanks to their light-weight and low voltage operation. However, while great attention has been paid to the development of better electrodes and electrolytes, no adequate efforts were made to develop actuators to be used in direct contact with the human skin. Herein, we present our approach, based on the use of parylene-C coating. Indeed, owning to its physicochemical properties such as high dielectric strength, resistance to solvents, biological and chemical inactivity/inertness, parylene fulfils the requirements for use in biocompatible actuator fabrication. In this paper, we study the influence of the parylene coating on the actuator performance. To do so, we analyzed its mechanical and electrochemical properties. We looked into the role of parylene as a protection layer that can prevent alteration of the actuator performance likely caused by external conditions. In order to complete our study, we designed a haptic device and investigated the generated force, displacement and energy usage.

Carbon nanotubes plastic actuator: Towards lightweight, low-voltage haptic devices

There is a lack of safe, lightweight, low-voltage actuators that can be used in haptic applications. One of the possible solutions is ionic electroactive polymer actuator - the only one among electroactive polymers that can be operated at low voltage in air. In this paper we present the carbon nanotubes based plastic actuators that we are currently developing as tactors in haptic devices and we will discuss their performance. We show how the use of different types of single-walled carbon nanotubes lead to produce plastic carbon nanotube/ionic liquid based actuators (bucky gel actuators) with different performance. Achieved force for both kinds of non-optimized actuators was two times higher than perceptive capabilities of the human finger. In addition, force-displacement modeling was done in order to rationalize the differences in actuation behavior and to provide design tools to optimize the geometry as a function of the specific requirements.