Fabrication of Carbon-Based Ionic Electromechanically Active Soft ActuatorsPille Rinne 1, Inga Põldsalu 1, Herman Klas Ratas 1, Karl Kruusamäe 1, Urmas Johanson 1, Tarmo Tamm 1, Kaija Põhako-Esko 1, Andres Punning 1, Anna-Liisa Peikolainen 1, Friedrich Kaasik 1, Indrek Must 1, Daan van den Ende 2, Alvo Aabloo 1
1Intelligent Materials and Systems Lab, Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, 2Smart Interfaces & Modules Department, Philips Research
This article describes a fast and simple manufacturing process of ionic electromechanically active composite materials for actuators in biomedical, biomimetic and soft robotics applications. The key fabrication steps, their importance for the actuators' final properties, and some of the main characterization techniques are described in detail.