Actuator based on sulfonated comb copolymer of poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) grafted by poly (ethylene glycol)

Comb copolymer consisting of poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVAL) as backbone and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) as side chains (EVAL-g-PEG) has been synthesized, then it was sulfonated by 1,3-propane sultone to get the final ionomer (EVAL-g-SPEG), and ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) based on EVAL-g-SPEG was prepared through electroless deposition of platinum onto the surfaces of EVAL-g-SPEG membrane. The graft copolymers were characterized with respect to molecular weight using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and composition using 1 H-NMR. The results showed that the No. of PEG graft of the side chains is n=1, 2 and others. Thermal properties were examined by DSC and TG. The melt temperature (T m ) and glass transition temperature (T g ) of the comb copolymer increase with the increasing length and the number of the side chains. Moreover, the deformation performance of IPMC material was tested and its results show that the starting response voltage of IPMC actuator decreases with the increasing IEC value. On the other hand, the starting response voltage increases with the decreased side chain length. The IPMC with n=2 side chain length of PEG has the maximum tip displacement, and the maximum tip displacement of IPMC membrane generally decreases with the side chain length of EVAL-g-SPEG. This feature may be the reflection of two opposite effects, namely the decreasing ion densities and increasing water sorption of the membrane.