Thin ink-jet printed trilayer actuators composed o fPEDOT:PSS on interpenetrating polyme rnetworks

Mass production of conducting polymer actuators with reliable performance is envisaged in the field of artificial muscles. In this study, inkjet printing and spin coating – two established technologies forlarge-scale production – were combined for microactuator fabrication. Actuators based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) electrodes (PEDOT:PSS, 2.2 m thick, 190 S cm−1),which were inkjet-printed onto a spin-coated membrane of an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)thin film composed of nitrile butadiene rubber and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEDOT:PSS-IPN-PEDOT:PSS)with a total thickness of 12.7 m, were prepared and studied. Our goal was to investigate the perfor-mance of the trilayers in linear actuation, in aqueous and organic (propylene carbonate) solutions ofbis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide lithium salt (LiTFSI) used as electrolytes, and in bending actuation in airusing an ionic liquid as the electrolyte. Electro-chemo-mechanical deformation (ECMD) measurementswere consistent with electrochemical measurements showing a strain of 3% in aqueous electrolyte and1% in propylene carbonate. A strain of 0.14% in the bending mode in the ionic liquid was observed dueto electric double layer charging, while in electrolyte solutions, redox reactions determined the linearactuation properties. In the aqueous electrolyte, a specific capacitance of 193 F g−1was measured for theprinted PEDOT:PSS films, with potential for applications in supercapacitors.