Experimental Investigation of Electro-Mechanical Behavior of Silver-Coated Teflon Fabric-Reinforced Nafion Ionic Polymer Metal Composite with Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Nanoparticles

Overview

Journal Polymers (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Date 2022 Dec 23

PMID 36559862

Authors

Ch Sridhar Yesaswi

Santosh Kumar Sahu

P S Rama Sreekanth

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMCs) are in high demand owing to the ongoing advancements in technology for various applications. New fabrication techniques and a quick retort towards the applied load are the significant reasons for considering IPMCs in smart devices. Here, a Teflon fabric-reinforced Nafion (TFRN) membrane is used to create an IPMC. The materials employed as electrodes are silver and nanofillers. The basement membrane, Nafion 438 (N-438), is sandwiched between the electrodes using a chemical decomposition technique. Subsequently, the electromechanical properties (actuation) of the membrane are tested. The micro and molecular structure of the IPMC membrane coated with Silver (Ag), Ag-Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and Ag-Graphene nanoparticles samples are examined with the help of SEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The membrane scratch test is carried out to evaluate the abrasion and wear resistance of the membrane. The lowest coefficient of friction is shown by N438 + Ag + Graphene (0.05), which increased by 300% when compared to a pure N438 membrane. The hydration and tip deflection test were also performed to understand the water uptake percentage. At 90 °C, the highest water uptake was observed for N438 + Ag + Graphene (0.05), which decreased by 60, 42, 23, 14 and 26% when compared to N438, N438 + Ag, N438 + Ag + CNT (0.01), N438 + Ag + CNT (0.05) and N438 + Ag + Graphene (0.01), respectively. A proportional relationship between hydration level and tip deflection is observed and the highest bending performance is observed for the N438 + Ag + Graphene (0.05) membrane.

Citing Articles

Heat-Responsive PLA/PU/MXene Shape Memory Polymer Blend Nanocomposite: Mechanical, Thermal, and Shape Memory Properties.

Sanaka R, Sahu S, Sreekanth P, Giri J, Mohammad F, Al-Lohedan H Polymers (Basel). 2025; 17(3).

PMID: 39940540 PMC: 11820063. DOI: 10.3390/polym17030338.

Influence of Graphene Oxide on Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Nafion Membranes.

Ceballos-Alvarez C, Jafari M, Siaj M, Shahgaldi S, Izquierdo R Nanomaterials (Basel). 2025; 15(1.

PMID: 39791826 PMC: 11722737. DOI: 10.3390/nano15010068.

Fabrication and Characterization of Cu-Driven PTFE-Reinforced Artificial Muscle Polymer Membrane for Water Purification and Energy Harvesting Applications.

Avvari V, Sreekanth P Membranes (Basel). 2023; 13(9).

PMID: 37755187 PMC: 10537113. DOI: 10.3390/membranes13090766.

Nafion: New and Old Insights into Structure and Function.

Ninham B, Battye M, Bolotskova P, Gerasimov R, Kozlov V, Bunkin N Polymers (Basel). 2023; 15(9).

PMID: 37177360 PMC: 10181149. DOI: 10.3390/polym15092214.

Design of Laboratory Stand for Displacement Measurement of IPMC Actuators.

Koslik K, Kowol P, Brociek R, Wajda A, Lo Sciuto G Sensors (Basel). 2023; 23(3).

PMID: 36772310 PMC: 9919193. DOI: 10.3390/s23031271.

References

Yang L, Zhang D, Zhang X, Tian A . Prediction of the Actuation Property of Cu Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites Based on Backpropagation Neural Networks. ACS Omega. 2020; 5(8):4067-4074. PMC: 7057690. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.9b03725. View

Yesaswi C, Sahu S, Sreekanth P . Experimental Investigation of Electro-Mechanical Behavior of Silver-Coated Teflon Fabric-Reinforced Nafion Ionic Polymer Metal Composite with Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Nanoparticles. Polymers (Basel). 2022; 14(24). PMC: 9781045. DOI: 10.3390/polym14245497. View

Yang L, Zhang D, Zhang X, Tian A . Fabrication and Actuation of Cu-Ionic Polymer Metal Composite. Polymers (Basel). 2020; 12(2). PMC: 7077653. DOI: 10.3390/polym12020460. View

Liu R, Gong T, Zhang K, Lee C . Graphene oxide papers with high water adsorption capacity for air dehumidification. Sci Rep. 2017; 7(1):9761. PMC: 5575065. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09777-y. View

Sreekanth P, Kanagaraj S . Assessment of bulk and surface properties of medical grade UHMWPE based nanocomposites using Nanoindentation and microtensile testing. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2012; 18:140-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2012.11.011. View

Primo A, Esteve-Adell I, Coman S, Candu N, Parvulescu V, Garcia H . One-Step Pyrolysis Preparation of 1.1.1 Oriented Gold Nanoplatelets Supported on Graphene and Six Orders of Magnitude Enhancement of the Resulting Catalytic Activity. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015; 55(2):607-12. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201508908. View

Wang Y, Yang X, Chen Y, Wainwright D, Kenaley C, Gong Z . A biorobotic adhesive disc for underwater hitchhiking inspired by the remora suckerfish. Sci Robot. 2020; 2(10). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aan8072. View

Luqman M, Anis A, Shaikh H, Al-Zahrani S, Alam M . Development of a Soft Robotic Bending Actuator Based on a Novel Sulfonated Polyvinyl Chloride-Phosphotungstic Acid Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) Membrane. Membranes (Basel). 2022; 12(7). PMC: 9322641. DOI: 10.3390/membranes12070651. View

Zhang Q, Chen C, Wang M, Cai J, Xu J, Xia C . Facile preparation of highly-dispersed cobalt-silicon mixed oxide nanosphere and its catalytic application in cyclohexane selective oxidation. Nanoscale Res Lett. 2011; 6(1):586. PMC: 3240672. DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-6-586. View

10.

Zhang G, Yang G, Li S, Shen Q, Wang H, Li Z . Effects of Hydration and Temperature on the Microstructure and Transport Properties of Nafion Polyelectrolyte Membrane: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation. Membranes (Basel). 2021; 11(9). PMC: 8467011. DOI: 10.3390/membranes11090695. View

11.

Geim A, Novoselov K . The rise of graphene. Nat Mater. 2007; 6(3):183-91. DOI: 10.1038/nmat1849. View