Investigation into Effects of Membrane Thickness on Electromechanical Properties of Biopolymer Chitosan-Based Electroactive Paper

ABSTRACT Chitosan-based electroactive paper has been reported as a smart material, which has merits in terms of lightweight, dry condition, biodegradability, sustainability, large displacement output, and low actuation voltage. However, our recent investigations found its actuation performance is highly sensitive to the membrane thicknesses, both on the electrolyte layer and the electrode layer. Focused on this issue, in this paper, we introduce a biopolymer ionic actuator made by multiwalled carbon nanotube, ionic liquid electrode, and polymer-supported chitosan. As a result, we find that chitosan polymer actuator with the thick electrode layer (0.7 mm) behaves with a larger blocking force (9.66 mN) and a smaller displacement (9.53 mm), and the lifetime under applied voltage of 3 V at 0.25 Hz is 1.75 times surpassed the thin one (0.3 mm). In addition to that, we investigate effects of membrane thicknesses on the electrical properties of chitosan polymer actuator, and figure out the relationship between the tensile strength of the membrane and the volume of the ionic solution in the electrolyte layer. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT