pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S08 - Nanocarbon Based Composites, with CNPComp2017
Oral Presentation
 
 

Process development for industrialization of CNT Electrodes for Electro Active Polymers Actuator

KOLARIC Ivica (1)*, Glanz Carsten (1), Bodny Florian (1)

(1) Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung IPA - -- - Germany

Electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are in the field of programmable materials and have found great interest in research. Applications of the materials are seen in the field of soft robotics, biomedicine, bio-inspired implants. They provide many advantages such as a low driving voltage, a noiseless movement and are lightweight. However, up to now ionic CNT actuators are not ready to be integrated into products that are ready-to-market. This is due to their moderate performance and their low reproducibility. In this talk the focus is on the reproducibility and the manufacturing speed of screen printed ionic CNT EAP actuators. The manufacturing of solution processed actuators can be divided into two steps. Firstly, the dispersion for the separator and the electrodes has to be made. Secondly, these materials have to be processed with different coating technologies. Commonly the dispersion is made by the use of a magnetic stirrer which in general is a slow dispersing method. In contrast an ultrasonic horn is used to reduce the time that is required to make the dispersion for the electrodes. Casting into a mould is mostly used to make the separation layers and the electrodes. With this technique thick layers can be realized, again however, solidification using this method is time consuming due to the large amount of solvent which has to evaporate. To reduce the manufacturing time of actuators and to improve the reproducibility, screen printing is used to print the electrodes of ionic CNT EAP actuators. During the development all process steps are connected via manufacturing service bus software with industry 4.0 to reduce the cycle time for different batches and to ensure the scalability of all processes.