State of water and transport properties of solid polymer electrolyte membranes in relation to polymer actuators

This paper studies the state of the water and the ionic conductivity of solid polymer electrolyte membranes (SPM) in relation to polymer actuators. The ionic conductivity was evaluated by impedance measurements and the specification of water in the SPM, such as total water, freezable water, non- freezable water, was carried out by DSC measurements. Dependency on the type of fixed charge of perfluorinated polymers and the couter ion was studied. The effect of the heat-treatment of the SPM was also studied. These properties were discussed in relation to the performance of the actuation of the composite composed of the SPM and gold on the basis of the proposed response model and the microscopic structure of the SPM.