抄録
An Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) consists of a thin ionomeric membrane with noble metal electrodes formed on both surfaces. IPMCs have a potential as soft robotic actuators and artificial muscles with several advantages such as flexibility, light weight, and low driving voltages. Highly durable IPMCs will be fabricated using an electroless chemical plating technique to form metal electrodes. In this study, a fabrication method for patterning electrodes with a size of several micrometers has been developed to realize IPMCs, which will be capable of a peristaltic movement. A selective electroless gold plating and an epoxy-resin based photoresist are applied for patterning electrodes. By using a photomask with a pattern-size of 50 μm, patterned electrodes are formed on an ionomer (Nafion) membrane, resulting in the size of 65 μm. This pattern size is much smaller than that in conventional patterning methods using a selective electroless plating technique and masking tapes or stencil masks. The sheet resistance of the fabricated electrodes is lower than 30 Ω/□, which is almost same order of magnitude as that of electrodes formed by the conventional electroless plating without photolithography.
