Electroactive Polymer Actuator with High Response Speed Through Anisotropic Surface Roughening by Plasma Etching

Plasma etching was performed to improve displacement and response speed of IPMC actuator through homogeneous roughening and anisotropic surface treatment. We found that the anisotropic surface treatment by plasma etching of Nafion in the pre-treatment process gave the response speed and displacement of resulting IPMC which was 2 times faster and 1.5 times larger than those manufactured by the sandblasting, respectively.