ABSTRACT Fiber‐ or yarn‐based textile actuators are being developed for practical applications in healthcare technologies. Here we analyze two different core fibers: a very stiff and available carbon fiber (CF) and a most elastic Lycra fiber. The Lycra fiber was made conductive (cLy) by chemical deposition of oxidized polypyrrole (PPy). Then, both fibers were coated with PPy doped with dodecyl benzenesulfonate (DBS) by electropolymerization, forming CF‐PPy/DBS and cLy‐PPy/DBS linear actuators. Those linear actuators underwent isotonic and isometric electro‐chemo‐mechanical deformation (ECMD) when submitted to consecutive potential cycles (cyclic voltammetry) or square potential waves (chronoamperometry) in propylene carbonate (PC) or aqueous solutions of sodium perchlorate (NaClO 4 ). The high stiffness of the CF‐PPy/DBS actuator results in very low strain and stress (4 kPa), few practical for applications. The cLy‐PPy/DBS actuator gives 1.1% strain (at 2.5 mHz) and 120 kPa stress, resulting in an anion‐driven actuation in PC. In the aqueous solution, it works as a cation‐driven actuator with a strain of 0.8% and a stress of 86 kPa at the same frequency. Long‐term stability studied during 160 cycles reveals the increase of the electroactivity during the 40 initial cycles and good stability beyond this point.
Kiefer et al. (2026) studied this question.