Influence of pH and loading of PANI on electrochemical and electromechanical properties for high-performance renewable soft actuator with nano-biocomposite electrode

High-performance renewable natural biopolymer electroactive artificial muscles have attracted enormous attentions in recent years. Here, a renewable biocompatible nanocomposite soft actuator is reported based on three-dimensional porous electrodes by highly conductive polyaniline doped with reduced graphene oxide/carbon nano-sheets and natural biopolymer cellulose-based electrolyte dissolved in ionic liquid ([Bmim]Cl), thereby realizing large deformation , excellent flexibility, well air working, and highly durable muscular properties. By changing different content and dissolving PH value for polyaniline , this proposed device can achieve a large deformation displacement (up to 13.53 mm) and bending force (up to 12 mN) at the 5 V DC voltage, and deliver a remarkable specific capacitance (from 0.8 to 1.01 mF/cm 2 ) at a sweep rate of 5 mV s −1 , quick response speeds (approximately 10 s), small impedance (2.941 Ω), and excellent energy density (198.33–521.82 Wh/kg) at the current density of 5 A g −1 , outperforming than many natural biopolymer gel-based actuators reported before. These findings suggest that the explored excellent conductivity, flexibility, and porous properties of nanocomposite electrode holds great promise in the further study of high-performance renewable biocompatible soft actuators.