Recent progress of flexible electrodes for ion polymer-metal composites (IPMC)

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMC) are a kind of electroactive smart soft materials, which consist of an ion-exchange polymer film and two flexible electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces of the polymer film. Among them, the performance of flexible electrodes is important to the IPMC, which is one of the research hotspots in the field of smart soft materials. At present, there are relatively few works on the electrode of IPMC sensing, and the electrodes suitable for IPMC actuation generally meet the requirements of IPMC sensing. Thus, the recent progress of IPMC flexible electrodes from the aspects of material selection, fabrication and performance improvement for IPMC actuation was reviewed in this paper. Firstly, the composition, driving and sensing mechanism of IPMC were briefly summarized. Then, the electrode materials were classified, and the problems of different materials were summarized when used as IPMC electrodes, such as the fatigue cracking and low specific capacitance of metal electrodes, and the low conductivity of conductive polymer electrodes. Finally, the performance improvement of IPMC electrodes was mainly summarized and the development trend of IPMC flexible electrodes was prospected, which should have high conductivity, high specific capacitance and excellent stability for the application of IPMC intelligent devices. © 2023 Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.