Bending Controllable IPMC Requires the Particular Structure Silver Electrodes as Well as Dehydration Treatment and Imposed Charge Quantity Control

There has been significant anticipation that IPMCs could serve as effective bending mode soft actuators.However, practical IPMC actuators need to be precisely controllable in their bending, which requires overcoming various challenges.We investigated IPMCs made from different types of ion exchange membranes and electrodes.The results suggest that the following factors are critical for achieving a highly bendable and precisely controllable IPMC:(i) The formation of a specific silver electrode structure on the IPMC surface.(ii) Dehydration treatment of the IPMC.(iii) Control of the charge quantity applied to the IPMC.