E A P

Sajjad Ghodrati Hamid Hadizadeh Masoud Ghodrati

What is an Electroactive Polymer?

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) convert electrical energy to mechanical work and vice versa[1]
ACTUATOR

E
ENERGY (ELECTRICAL)

EAP

W
MECHANICAL WORK

GENERATOR OR SENSOR

Electro active polymers (EAP)

Polymers that exhibit shape change in response to electrical stimulation can be divided into two distinct groups: electronic (driven by electric field or coulomb forces) and ionic (involving mobility or diffusion of ions)[2] TABLE 1: List of the leading EAP materials [3]
Electronic EAP Dielectric EAP Electrostrictive Graft Elastomers Electrostrictive Paper Electro-Viscoelastic Elastomers Ferroelectric Polymers Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCE) Ionic EAP Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Conductive Polymers (CP) ElectroRheological Fluids (ERF) Ionic Polymer Gels (IPG) Ionic Polymer Metallic Composite (IPMC)

A Brief History
The beginning of the field of EAP can be traced back to an 1880 experiment that was conducted by Roentgen using a rubber band With fixed end and a mass attached to the free-end, which was charged and discharged [Roentgen, 1880]. Sacerdote [1899] followed this experiment with a formulation of the strain response to electric field activation.[3] Piezoelectrics (crystals that generate electric potential when under stress) were discovered in 1880 by Pierre and Paul-Jacques Curie.

A Brief History(cont)
The Discovery of the Elecret (a piezoelectric polymer) in 1925 when carnauba wax, rosin, and beeswax introduced to an electric field and cooled (to solidification). Chemically stimulated polymers were discovered in the 1950s. Substantial piezoelectric activity in polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is observed in 1969, and research into other electro polymers begins (eventually including the EAP)[4]

Explanation of two common categories:

Dielectric EAP's Ionic EAP's Dielectric EAP's Dielectrics are non-conducting materials (well known for their use in Capacitors)

Explanation of two common categories:(cont)

A Capacitor, a useful energy storing unit, made up of two oppositely charged plates, separated by a nonconducting dielectric material.

In an EAP, the dielectric material has elastic properties, a dielectric elastomer. Commonly used dielectric elastomers include Silicon and Acrylics.

Explanation of two common categories:(cont)

The EAP is made of dielectric elastomers, coated (on two opposite sides) by conductive carbon particles. When the outer conductive coats are oppositely charged they attract one another, squeezing the dielectric, causing it to expand in the opposite direction. [4]

Explanation of two common categories:(cont)

The elastic dielectric polymer acts as an incompressibfluid which means that as the electrode pressure causes the dielectric film to become thinner, it expands in the planar directions. Electrical force is converted to mechanical actuation and motion.[5]

Ionic EAP's:
Movement is caused by the migration of ions within the polymer

Ionic EAP's:(cont)
The polymer is stuck between two oppositely charged plates, the charged particles migrate towards the negative plate. The further the particles are from the plates, the less they displace, this causes the polymer to bend. [4][5]

Ionic EAP's or Electronic (specially Dielectric)

Ionic Advantages Disadvantages low voltage mostly use AC voltage large bending potential (CP) slow response capable of creating small forces Need for an electrolyte and encapsulation

Electronic ( specially Dielectric)

operates at room conditions very rapid response time capable of creating large forces

requires very high voltage stress/strain compromise Glass transition temperature is inadequate for lowtemperature actuation task

Typical Conducting Polymer Structures (in Undoped Form)[10]

Name

Structure

Polyacetylene (PAc)

Polypyrrole (PPy)

Polythiophene (PTh)

Polyseleneophene (X = Se) Polyfuran (X = O)

Typical Conducting Polymer Structures (in Undoped Form)[10](cont)

Polyaniline (PAn)

Poly(diphenylamine)

Biomaterial Application
Pumps for the heart and/or heart valve replacements (diaphragm actuators)[4]

Biomaterial Application (cont)

Diaphragm Actuators: A thin layer of Dielectric EAP stretched over a rigid frame. When the voltage is applied, the dielectric expands outwards, an effective pump.

Biomaterial Application (cont)

Used as possible pumps/valve aids for the heart or other organs.[1][4]

Biomaterial Application (cont)

Eyelid movement and possible eye focal length control

Vision Aids Hyperopia (farsighted), myopia (nearsighted) and astigmatism are visually impairing conditions due to an improperly curved lens.

Biomaterial Application (cont)

The EAP acts as a muscular band around the eye, putting pressure on the eye, and effectively altering the focal length to correct vision [4]

Biomaterial Application (cont)

Muscular Implants for damaged skeletal muscle replacement or assistance[4]

Enabling a Heel-strike Generator

Energy from the heel strike is free - it would otherwise be dissipated as heat Energy converted per step with reasonable heel compression can be up to 5 J Power generated (both feet) during walking is 1W to 10 W The amount of electrostrictive polymers needed to convert 5 J is less than 50 g or 50 cc. Electromagnetic or piezoelectric devices would weigh more than 10 times this weight[1]
Conventional technology (direct drive; including piezoelectrics) EAP-based design

Relative Mass, Size, or Cost for boots with equivalent performance and functionality

Heel-strike Generator
Developed a heel-strike generator to capture free energy while walking Demonstrated up to 0.8 J per heel strike Developed multi-layer polymer fabrication techniques
Demonstrated 15 layer device

Heel-Strike generators are expected to produce 1W of power under normal walking conditions

Applications of a Heel-strike Generator

Boot generator can assist the dismounted soldier in several distinct ways
Power source or battery recharger to reduce battery weight for a mission Smart Shoes, Multifunctional Footwear - simplify logistics by reducing the number of separate batteries or devices required
power an instrument that should logically be located in a boot for best operation: personal navigation system, medical status monitor, foot warmer power a device that could be located in a boot for weight or space savings Friendly ID beacon, comm link, magnetometer, chem/bio detector, special battery or capacitor for high-voltage device such as night vision scope

Dynamic Footwear - Actuation or Adaptability for enhanced performance

OFW Concept
Source: Natick

reduced injury improved comfort more efficient load carrying

Can EAPs overcome limitations of Small Portable Power Sources?

Current small fuel-burning engines/generators:
Noisy Inefficient (typically 5-7%) Require special fuel mixtures Not inherently hybrids or multifunctional - Need separate components for both mechanical and electrical energy production
MAVs, Land Robots & Vehicles need efficient and quiet Electrical + Mechanical Power

Batteries:
Electric only Low energy density (heavy) Slow to recharge, hard to dispose

Fuel cells:
Electric only Limited to certain types of fuel and cannot run on dirty fuel Require additional components and warm-up time[1]

Future Soldier Systems need efficient and quiet Electrical + Mechanical Power

An All-polymer Engine: The Answer?

Light: Uses lightweight electroactive polymers instead of metallic piston/cylinders + electromagnetic generator Can operate sub-acoustically or with quieter external combustion cycles Unlike fuel cells and many small engines, can run efficiently on dirty logistics fuels Low cost and rugged eliminates parts and bearings Can be made in a wide variety of shapes and sizes[1]
Electromagnetic Generator
Dielectric elastomer

Crankshaft Conditioning Electronics Conditioning Electronics Cylinder Electrical Output Electrical Output

Piston

Conventional Generator System

Comparable Polymer Engine System

Other Power Applications of EAPs

Polymer actuators may offer advantages for other power systems

Valves & pumps for fuel cells Actuated valves for engines, air controls, fuel pumps, etc.[1]
Proof-of-principle diaphragm array pump.

Polymer diaphragms can provide large displacements for lightweight pumps

Dielectric elastomer actuator for direct control of engine valving

Dielectric Elastomer Generators

Energy is generated due to a change in the capacitance as the film is stretched E = Qo2 (1/Cf -1/Ci) nearly incompressible polymers increase in area and decrease in thickness when stretched

Experimental Setup
Mechanical setup to allow pre-set strains between expanded and contracted states Electrical setup to measure voltage changes can also use to measure currents through known resistors non-contact electrostatic voltmeter (EV) used to measure leakage directly (no high voltage probe)[6]

Experimental Setup(cont)

Experimental Setup(cont)

Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays

According to the World Health Organization, about 314 million people are visually impaired, with 45 million blind. The raised dots of Braille codedeveloped by the 16-year old Louis Braille in 1825had a dramatic impact on blind peoples ability to read and write. Braille simplified the 12 raised-dot code of Captain Charles Barbier, who initially created a system to enable Napoleons army to communicate silently at night. Brailles system used only six dots per character, arranged in a rectangular shape along two columns of three each: see Figure 1(a). This modification made the code much easier for fingertips to sense through touch and led to significantly faster reading. A later version uses eight dots with two rows of four dots, increasing the possible combination of signs from 64 to 256: see Figure 1(b).

Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays(cont)

Figure1. The acronym EAP in upper case expressed in the six and eight dot Braille code systems.

In contrast to the hardcopy form, a refreshable Braille display needs to raise and lower a large array of dense dots, allowing quick tactile perception for rapid reading. Producing a full-page Braille display requires packing many small actuated dots a standard Braille page is 28cm30cm and has room for 25 lines of 40 characters eachwhich requires 6,000 to 8,000 Dots.

Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays(cont)

The concept is based on using a field-activated type EAP actuator configured in an array form. Rows of electrodes on one side of an EAP film and columns on the other activate individual elements in the array. Each element is mounted with a Braille dot and is lowered by applying a voltage across the thickness of the selected element, causing local thickness reduction. Under computer control, dots would be activated to create tactile patterns of highs and lows representing the information to be read.[7]

Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays(cont)

Figure 2. An EAP film with addressable dots at the intersection between selected row and column electrodes to which voltage is applied.

Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays(cont)

Braille display for visually impaired.

Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays(cont)

Figure 4. A blind person uses the dielectric elastomer EAP-based refreshable Braille display developed at Sungkyunkwan University.

Electro active Polymers & Smart Coatings for Corrosion Inhibition of alloy
"Smart" coating systems are engineered to respond to electrochemical processes responsible for corrosion by providing a self-repairing system. When corrosion events are sensed, the coating functions to automatically release anodic and/or cathodic corrosion inhibitors to shut down the corrosion process. Several smart coating system strategies employ electroactive polymers (EAPs) (inherently conductive polymers (ICPs) such as polyaniline). These coating systems capitalize on the two unique properties of EAPs, their ability to: (1) conduct electricity and (2) bind and expel molecules or ions in response to an electrochemical potential.For a smart coating system, the switching of the EAP redox state is triggered by local electrochemical reactions occurring on the surface of a metal which occur during a corrosion process. Thus, if the EAP is engineered to contain an inhibitor ion as a dopant, the ion is released when a corrosion process (metal oxidation) occurs.This release process is the key to the smart ICP coating approach.

Electro active Polymers & Smart Coatings for Corrosion Inhibition of alloy(cont)
The mechanism for protection of aluminum alloys can be drawn as in Figure which depicts a pinhole through the coating. DMcT (2,5dimercapto-l,3,4-thiadiazole (DMcT) as a inhibitor for PANI.) is the inhibitor (D). In Figure, oxygen reduction on the corrosion site (gray area) forces corrosion in the adjacent matrix. As aluminum and magnesium leave the surface, copper sponge remains behind. The electroactive DMcT adsorbs onto the copper-rich intermetallic inclusions shutting down the oxygen reduction reaction and the subsequent ncorrosion. The coating holds the inhibitor until a defect and the resulting corrosion electrochemistry demand its release.[8]

Electro active Polymers & Smart Coatings for Corrosion Inhibition of alloy(cont)

DMcT Reductively Released by Several Corrosion Processes

Types of Muscles in Human

Skeletal Muscle

Cardiac Muscle

Types of Muscles in Human(cont)

Smooth Muscle

Artificiel Muscle
Basic Muscle Structure
Myofibril contains thin and thick filaments, these attach to Z filaments, these attach to Z-lines, lines, which run up and down the Myofibril. which run up and down the Myofibril. When the chemical process for contraction is When the chemical process for contraction is triggered, the thick filaments pull the thin filaments triggered, the thick filaments pull the thin filaments towards themselves on the z towards themselves on the zlines, causing muscle lines, causing muscle contraction.

Artificiel Muscle(cont)

Any artificial muscular implant would need to be able to emulate real muscle.

Artificiel Muscle(cont)

As mention before There are two common configurations for EAP actuators Ionic and Dielectric.[4][9]

Some example of usage artificial muscle

Multi-finger gripper using eap strips

Some example of usage artificial muscle

Some example of usage artificial muscle(cont)

John Brzenk (the World Wrestling Champion per Guinness Book of Records) in wrestling pose with the EAPs arm model.

Some example of usage artificial muscle(cont)

A recent prototype of robotic fish developed by EAP. and contains, wireless communication

Some example of usage artificial muscle(cont)

robot using rolled DE EAP actuators(Eckerle et.al 2000)

Some example of usage artificial muscle(cont)

The robot, Kismet, responds to human expressions from Cynthia Breazeal, MIT [courtesy of MIT Press Officehttp://www.ai.mit.edu/people/cynthia/cynthia.ht ml]

Read more about EAP's

Ionic polymermetal composites: I.II.III.IV Fundamentals Mohsen Shahinpoor1,2,3 and Kwang J Kim1,2 1 Artificial Muscle Research Institute, School of Engineering and School of Medicine, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA 2 Environmental Robots, Inc., Albuquerque, NM 87108, USA

Artificial Muscles M. Shahinpoor, K. J. Kim and M. Mojarrad

Read more about EAP's(cont)

Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen

References:
[1]Tri-Service Power Expo Norfolk, VA(Presented by Roy Kornbluh SRI International July 2003) [2]capabilities, potential and challenges of electroactive polymers. yoseph bar-cohen [3] Electro-active polymers: current capabilities and challenges ,Yoseph Bar-Cohen,Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech4800 Oak Grove Drive, M/S 82-105, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA [4] Electroactiv Polymers ARTIFICIAL MUSCLE Matthan Moktar, Martin Villegas [5] EAP - ElectroActive Polymers A Short Introduction to Robotics Applications Ing. Paolo Belluco AIRLab - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Lab Politecnico di Milano February 2007 [6] RECENT PROGRESS IN HEELSTRIKE GENERATORS USING ELECTROACTIVE POLYMERS RECENT PROGRESS IN HEEL-STRIKE GENERATORS USING ELECTROACTIVE POLYMERS Ron PelrineRoy Kornbluh SRI International [7] Electro active polymers for refreshable Braille displays Yoseph Bar-Cohen dvanced Technologies Group NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory [8] Electr oactive Polymers & Smart Coatings for Corrosion Inhibition of Aluminum Alloys Patrick J. Kinlen; Scott Hayes; Frank Doering; Steve Welker; George Koustis; and Bud Hannah Crosslink 950 Bolger Court St. Louis, M 63026 Peter Zarras NAVAIR Chemistry Branch 1900 N. Knox Road, Stop 6303 China Lake, CA 93555-6106 [9] WorldWide ElectroActive Polymers EAP (Artificial Muscles) Newsletter [10] T H I R D E D I T I O N CONDUCTIVE ELECTROACTIVE POLYMERS Intelligent Polymer Systems