All-polymer electromechanical systems consisting of electrostrictive poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) and conductive polyaniline

The low elastic modulus and the ability to withstand high strain without failure make the conducting polymer attractive for a wide range of acoustic applications based on high-strain electroactive polymers. In this article, we examine the electric and electromechanical performance of all-polymer electromechanical systems, fabricated by painting conductive polyaniline (PANI) doped with camphor sulfonic acid (HCSA) on both sides of electrostrictive Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) copolymer films, and compare them with those from the same copolymers with gold electrodes. The all-polymer composite films are flexible, with strong coherent interfaces between the electrostrictive polymer layer and the conductive polymer layer. The electric performance such as dielectric properties and polarization hysteresis loops from P(VDF-TrFE)/PANI film is nearly identical to those of P(VDF-TrFE)/gold films in a wide temperature (from -50 to 120°C), and frequency range (from 1 Hz to 1 MHz). The all-polymer systems also show a similar or even larger electric field induced strain response than that of films with electrodes under identical measurement conditions. The results demonstrate that the polyaniline/HCSA is good candidate material as the electrodes for electroactive polymers.