Formation and Characterization of Dendritic Interfacial Electrodes inside an Ionomer

Formation of dendritic interfacial electrodes (DIEs) between metal/polymer interfaces has high demands in a variety of areas. By combining impregnation electroplating (IEP) step with impregnation-reduction (IR) step under straightforward conditions, we report a novel method of preparation of dendritic interfacial metal electrodes of palladium, platinum, silver and copper inside an ionomer for ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMC) application. The depth of palladium DIEs can be controlled by adjusting the reaction time, and the maximum depth can almost reach up to contact from the both sides of ionomer with a total thickness of 200 μm. The capacitance and actuation performance of IPMC was dramatically enhanced because of the presence of DIEs.