Issue 1, 2014

Li ion/vapor grown carbon fiber polymer actuators show higher performance than single-walled carbon nanotube polymer actuators

Abstract

The effects of Li tetrafluoroborate (Li[BF4]) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Li[TFSI]) salts on the electrochemical and electromechanical properties of an actuator using a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)-supported vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF)/ionic liquid (IL) gel electrode formed without ultrasonication were investigated. At a slow sweep rate of 1 mV s−1, the measured double-layer capacitance values for the VGCF/Li[X]/IL actuator were in the range of 20.0–42.3 F g−1, and were larger than that for an IL-only actuator. The capacitance was found to increase with the Li[BF4] content, but was independent of the Li[TFSI] content. All of the VGCF/Li[X]/IL actuators exhibited a larger amount of strain than IL-only actuators, and for a VGCF/Li[TFSI]/EMI[TFSI] actuator with a Li[TFSI]/EMI[TFSI] molar ratio of 1.0, the maximum strain was greater than that for an IL actuator containing single-walled carbon nanotubes. Moreover, the frequency dependence of the displacement response for the VGCF/Li[X]/IL actuators was successfully simulated using an electrochemical kinetic model, similar to the case for SWCNT and VGCF based actuators containing metal oxide. The results yielded the strain in the low-frequency limit in addition to the time constant of the response.

Graphical abstract: Li ion/vapor grown carbon fiber polymer actuators show higher performance than single-walled carbon nanotube polymer actuators

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Aug 2013
Accepted
20 Oct 2013
First published
22 Oct 2013

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014,2, 130-135

Li ion/vapor grown carbon fiber polymer actuators show higher performance than single-walled carbon nanotube polymer actuators

N. Terasawa and I. Takeuchi, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014, 2, 130 DOI: 10.1039/C3TA13338A

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