The preparation, characterization and actuation behavior of polyaniline and cellulose blended electro-active paper

This paper reports polyaniline and cellulose blended electro-active paper (EAPap) that can produce large bending displacement at ambient humidity conditions with long lifetime durability. A novel solution processable polyaniline-p-toluene sulfonate (PANI-PTSA) salt was prepared by an inverted emulsion polymerization technique using benzoyl peroxide and p-toluene sulfonic acid. Cellulose solution prepared by dissolving cotton with lithium chloride/N, N-dimethylacetamide was mixed with the PANI emaraldine salt solution and a cellulose-PANI blended film was obtained. The obtained cellulose-PANI film was characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible), x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and tensile test methods. A cellulose-PANI EAPap actuator was made by depositing very thin gold electrodes on both sides of the cellulose-PANI film. When the actuator performance of the cellulose-PANI EAPap was evaluated in terms of bending displacement with respect to the actuation frequencies, voltages and relative humidity levels, a large bending displacement was shown at ambient humidity conditions with long lifetime durability.