Comparison of electrochemical and electromechanical properties of a high performance carbon black polymer actuator and a single-walled carbon nanotube polymer actuator

The electrochemical and electromechanical properties of actuators prepared using a carbon black (CB)-ionic liquid (IL) gel electrode containing manganese oxide (MnO2) and formed without ultrasonication were compared with actuators prepared using only-CB, only-multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), only-activated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH) and only-single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The CB polymer actuator containing MnO2, prepared without ultrasonication, surpassed the strain performance of the only-CB, only-MWCNT, only-MWCNT-COOH and only-SWCNT actuators. The capacitance of the MnO2/CB/IL electrode contributes to the pseudocapacitance, and for low frequencies, the strain for the MnO2/CB/IL actuator is the dominant contributor to the pseudocapacitance. Therefore, it is considered that the mechanism for MnO2/CB/IL actuation is different from that for the only-SWCNT and only-MWCNT-COOH actuators. Both CB and MnO2 are required to produce a large strain actuator that surpasses the performance of the SWCNT polymer actuator and has characteristics sufficient for practical applications (e.g., in tactile displays).