High-performance hot-pressed ionic soft actuator based on ultrathin self-standing PEDOT:PSS electrodes and Nafion membrane

A high-performance sandwich-structure low-voltage ionic electroactive actuator was fabricated by self-standing ion-exchange Nafion membranes and conductive PEDOT:PSS electrodes by hot-pressing. The actuation properties of the hot-pressed PEDOT:PSS/Nafion soft actuator were examined in a function of alternating sine-wave voltages (0.25–3 V) and frequencies (0.1–0.5 Hz), showing a large bending displacement of 5.7 mm with four sets of measurements without degradation, a long-term cyclic stability of 98% up to 300 cycles (1.0 V, 0.1 Hz), and a high bending strain of 0.25% with low applied voltages of 0.25 to 3 V. Additionally, the thickness had an impact on the degree of actuation displacement. Moreover, potential actuator applications including microgrippers, microsorters, and bioinspired fingers were introduced, opening up more possibilities for the next-generation advancement of actuators in biosensor microrobots and biomedical microdevices. Graphical abstract