Visualization of the cation migration in ionic polymer-metal composite under an electric field

Abstract

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) exhibit a large dynamic bending deformation due to the redistribution of counter-ions inside the polymer. It has not been possible to get the high resolution data of the cation migration. The images obtained so far have only validated the versatile actuation model. The actuation model states that the electrically induced cation movement contributes to the volumetric stress change in the membrane. In this work, a visualization of the cation migration using the fluorescent microscopy is created. The results demonstrated in this letter help to understand the underlying mechanism of the IPMC transduction.