Fabrication of bucky gel actuator/sensor devices based on printing method

Bucky gel actuator is a novel electro-active polymer (EAP), which is a low-voltage driven dry soft actuator. In addition, the bucky gel device generates electromotive force when bending, and then it also can be used as a sensor. Its device has a bimorph structure with polymer-supported bucky gel electrodes and a polymer-supported ionic gel electrolyte. It can be fabricated by layer-by-layer casting, to form any shape easily. In this paper, we demonstrate an automatic fabrication method of the bucky gel devices based on a printing method. By using a dispensing machine, we construct the printing system, and manual forming process is replaced with automatic printing. We investigate the printing of complicated shapes and 3D electrode pattern through experiments.

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