A Deformable Ionic Polymer Artificial Mechanotransducer with an Interpenetrating Nanofibrillar Network.

We demonstrate an ionic polymer artificial mechanotransducer (i-PAM) capable of simultaneously yielding an efficient wide bandwidth and a blocking force to maximize human tactile recognition in soft tactile feedback. The unique methodology in the i-PAM relies on an ionic interpenetrating nanofibrillar network (i-INN) that is formed at the interface of ⅰ) an ionic thermoplastic polyurethane (i-TPU) nanofibrillar matrix with an ionic liquid of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium:bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([EMIM]+[TFSI]-) and ⅱ) ionic poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) conducting polymer electrodes with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and [EMIM]+[TFSI]- as additives. The i-PAM-based actuator with the ionic PEDOT:PSS exhibits stable operation up to 200 Hz at low voltage as well as blocking force of 0.4 mN, which can be potentially adapted to soft tactile feedback. Furthermore, on the basis of this fast i-PAM, we realized alphabet tactile rendering by using a 3×3 i-PAM array stimulated by a DC input of 2 V. We believe that our proposed approach can provide a rational guide to human-machine soft haptic interface.