Electrically responsive materials based on polycarbazole/sodium alginate bio-hydrogel blends for actuator

Abstract

Actuator is a mechanical device for displacing a system component under some kind of energy. For the actuating applications, it should provide a large deformation under activated energy. Generally. electric field is offer used to induce material deformation and certain electroactive polymers can offer large mechanical responses under electric field. The aims of this work are to study the effects of concentration and type of surfactant on the synthesized Polycarbazole (PCB), and to use it as conductive filler in sodium alginate hydrogels (SA). The electromechanical properties of materials under the influence of the electric field strength were investigated. The electromechanical properties of pristine SA were studied under effects of crosslinking type and SA molecular weight. The electromechanical properties of properties of PCB/SA composites were studied under the effect of PCB concentration. The particle shape of PCB synthesized by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide was of the connected hollow microsphere which showed the highest electrical conductivity (2.62x 10⁻³ S/cm). The electromechanical properties of pristine SA crosslinked by an ionic crosslinking agent were higher than those of the covalent crosslinking. Moreover. The electromechanical responses of SA increased with increasing molecular weight. Finally, the electromechanical responses of the PCB/SA composite was the highest at 0.10 % v/v PCB.