SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
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2018
·
IF 5.667
Yi Li,Yanbiao Li,Minoru Hashimoto
In this work, a novel planar actuator based on plasticized poly (vinyl chloride) gel and flexible silicone grease electrodes is proposed to realize a new soft actuator with high performance under low driving voltages. The proposed planar PVC gel actuator (PPGA) can demonstrate a strain of 21%, an output stress of over 0.6 MPa and a respond time of about 90 ms, only at a low driving voltage of 120 V. These performances are comparable to those of the biological muscle and are much better as compared to 10–12% strain and 0.09 MPa stress at 400 V for the traditional stainless electrodes-based multilayered PVC gel actuator (MPGA). In addition, compared to the typical planar dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) (3 M VHB4905), the operating voltage and response time for the PPGA are reduced by one order of magnitude. A theoretical model is used to discuss the difference between the two types of actuators, finding a good agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, the PPGA can be continuously actuated for more than 1 million times which shows a good durability. These results demonstrate the feasibility of PPGA as a soft actuator, so a wide application is expected.
研究领域:
材料科学
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软体机器人学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Polymers
·
2021
·Vol. 13
·期 16
·2734
·
IF 4.329
Bin Luo,Yiding Zhong,Hualing Chen,Zicai Zhu,Yanjie Wang
Electroactive PVC gel is a new artificial muscle material with good performance that can mimic the movement of biological muscle in an electric field. However, traditional manufacturing methods, such as casting, prevent the broad application of this promising material because they cannot achieve the integration of the PVC gel electrode and core layer, and at the same time, it is difficult to create complex and diverse structures. In this study, a multi-material, integrated direct writing method is proposed to fabricate corrugated PVC gel artificial muscle. Inks with suitable rheological properties were developed for printing four functional layers, including core layers, electrode layers, sacrificial layers, and insulating layers, with different characteristics. The curing conditions of the printed CNT/SMP inks under different applied conditions were also discussed. The structural parameters were optimized to improve the actuating performance of the PVC gel artificial muscle. The corrugated PVC gel with a span of 1.6 mm had the best actuating performance. Finally, we printed three layers of corrugated PVC gel artificial muscle with good actuating performance. The proposed method can help to solve the inherent shortcomings of traditional manufacturing methods of PVC gel actuators. The printed structures have potential applications in many fields, such as soft robotics and flexible electronic devices.Keywords:direct writing;PVC gel;artificial muscle;rheological behavior;integrated printing
研究领域:
软体机器人
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材料科学
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生物仿生学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Journal of Central South University
·
2022
·Vol. 29
·期 6
·1778-1787
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IF 2.392
Zhang Hao,He Qing-song,Tian Cheng-bo,Wu Yu-wei,Zhao Ze-fang,Yu Min
Inspired by the microstructure of gecko’s toe, two kinds of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gels with different modulus were poured on a silicon mold with micropillars, and then a bio-inspired adhesive with variable modulus was manufactured in this study. The adhesions of variable modulus and fixed modulus bio-inspired adhesives were tested, respectively, on a smooth glass and a printed circuit board (PCB) with different surface structures. The results show that PVC gel bio-inspired adhesives with variable modulus have many advantages compared with the fixed modulus bio-inspired adhesives. The adhesion of variable modulus bio-inspired adhesives on the rough PCB surface increased by 2–5 times, and due to the use of variable modulus of PVC gel, the surface micropillars can maintain high aspect ratio and flexible tips at the same time. Moreover, the use of PVC gel makes it easier to demold during the bio-inspired adhesives preparation. An adhesion-desorption device was made according to the movement of the gecko toes, and the PCB was successfully grasped.
研究领域:
材料科学
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仿生学
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生物工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS A-PHYSICAL
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2022
·
IF 4.291
Tianyun Dong,Tao Liu
There has recently been a substantial increase in interest in research on PVC gel actuators because of its numerous advantages over traditional actuators, such as low mass density, large actuation strain, great compliance, and simple manufacturing. However, the current PVC gel actuator is mainly based on the research of rigid electrodes, and there are few researches based on flexible electrodes . In this paper, a fully flexible actuator based on PVC gel film and carbon grease electrode has been prepared. The mechanical properties of the prepared PVC gels with different plasticizer ratios were tested. Three commonly used hyperelastic models (Neo-Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin and Yeoh models) were used to characterize the mechanical properties of PVC gels, and only the Yeoh model was found to be better for the characterization of the mechanical properties of PVC gels. In addition, we used the Prony series to successfully characterize the viscoelasticity of PVC gels. Then, the fully flexible PVC gel actuator (FFPGA) with long-time static and dynamic response characteristics was studied. It was found that the FFPGA has strong viscoelasticity when working. Finally, we proposed to simplify the FFPGA into a capacitor and designed a high-pass filter in the driving circuit. The self-sensing function of the FFPGA was achieved by superimposing a high-frequency low-voltage sensing signal on the low-frequency high-voltage driving signal as the input signal.
研究领域:
材料科学
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智能材料
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柔性电子
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
POLYMER
·
2024
·
IF 4.1
Beibei Li,Zhiwei Liu,Ying Dan Liu,Yongri Liang
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gels, as electroactive polymers , have various applications in the fields of soft actuators and sensors. The relationship between the structure and electromechanical properties of PVC gels, however, has not been fully understood so far. In this work, the effect of different alkyl chain length of 1-allyl- imidazolium cations of tetrafluoroborate (BF 4 )-based ionic liquid (IL) on structure, mechanical and dielectric properties , bending actuation, sensing and electroadhesion properties of plasticized polyvinyl chloride/dibutyl adipate (PVC/DBA) gel were investigated. The interaction between DBA and ILs in PVC/DBA/IL gels leads to the disruption of interactions between inter-DBA molecules and subsequent formation of DBA-rich phases with DBA/IL complexes. The number of DBA-rich phases in PVC/DBA/IL gels increases as the alkyl chain length of the cation in IL increases, due to an enhanced interaction between DBA and ILs with an increase in the alkyl chain length of the cation in IL. The Young's modulus of the PVC/DBA gel was slightly reduced, while the dielectric constant significantly increased when IL was added. Additionally, the bending actuation properties and capacitance pressure sensing sensitivity of the PVC/DBA/IL gel increased with an increase in the alkyl chain length of the cation of IL. However, there was an opposite trend observed for electroadhesion peel strength . Among the studied PVC/DBA/IL gels, the bending displacement, pressure sensing sensitivity, and electroadhesion peel strength of PVC/DBA/IL gel with 3.2 wt% of 1-allyl-3-butylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([ABIM]BF 4 ) increased by 2.6 times, 7.5 times, and 1.7 times compared to PVC/DBA gel, respectively. These results provide new insights into understanding the relationship between structure and electromechanical properties of PVC gels for their application in actuation, sensing, and electroadhesion integrated soft grippers.
研究领域:
材料科学
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高分子科学
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电活性聚合物
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软体机器人
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传感器
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执行器
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）