The bending actuation of IPMCs is caused by the electrochemical reactions under imposed electric fields. The bending
properties of the IPMC actuators as well as the sensitivity of IPMC sensors depend on the several particular impedances
of the material, e.g. the conductivity of the electrodes, the capacitance of the ionomer, etc. The variation of the shape of
the IPMCs causes the variations of those impedances and, therefore, leads to changes in their behavior. This effect is
important in understanding the behavior of IPMC devices and could be exploited to obtain the feedback signal from
them.
This paper presents the results of the measurements of variations of the impedances of the surface electrodes as well as
the IPMC devices in full during the course of their bending depending on the curvature of the device. The
electrochemical analyses, including voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were carried out with two
different IPMC materials. We show that the dynamical mechanical properties of the bending IPMC device and the
particular impedances are correlated.
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