Electroactive Polymers
February 21, 2009 - Leave a Response
Electroactive Polymer (EAP) research is regarded as one of the most fascinating prospects for developing artificial actuators. In 1999, Yosepth Bar-Cohen and the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) launched an EAP Conference that generated an enormous amount of excitement within the science community.
Like all new areas of research, EAP technology is far from being perfected. The most attractive attribute of EAPs is their ability to emulate biological muscle with a high degree of durability and actuation capability (Cohen 2001, 4). However, the challenge for scientists is establishing an infrastructure to study areas such as long term durability and applications that promote consistent actuation, even when submerged in an aqueous environment. An area such as biomimetic intelligences is largely open for developmental research. “Scientist and engineers have recently begun to mine biological systems for novel engineering materials, properties, and structures” (Cohen and Breazeal 2003, 19).
The key question for this project is whether EAP research can be marketed to an interdisciplinary audience for further development. “Enhancement of the actuation force requires an understanding of the basic principles using computational chemistry models, comprehensive material science, electromechanics analytical tools and improved material processing techniques” (Cohen 2001, 35). Developing a marketing campaign for a lay audience remains untested, particularly in regards to ethical implications. To date, only a few science journalists write about EAP in popular science magazines. EAP publications are only circulated in a small segment of the population.
In laying out my course of study, I decided to use discourse from scholarly journals, websites, books, and an interview with one of East Carolina University’s physics experts in the field of nano technology. Each of the 16 annotated bibliographies offers a different perspective of both technological innovation and ongoing experimental research in areas relating to EAP. A notable appendage to the development of EAP technology would be space robotics.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a subsidiary of NASA is engaged in research that could lead to developing efficient miniature actuators for space mechanisms in the future. Additional applications in EAP research is featured in April’s 2008 addition of IEEE Spectrum. The featured article captures a scientific break through in polymer material used for actuation in a ‘Robot Fly.’
