Au/Pt Double Layer Electrodes Accelerate Air-Hose-Free Thin Mckibben Muscles

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed an Au/Pt double layer electrode which makes the soft PEFC durable. We also proposed an expanding internal chamber that can increase the expansion rate and reduce the excessive pressure rise inside the PEFC tube. The resistance of the PEFC tube using the Au/Pt double layer electrodes did not show a notable increase after being bent eight times. The newly developed an air-hose-free thin McKibben muscles using the PEFC tube that has Au/Pt double layer electrodes achieved a maximum contraction rate of 20% and an average contraction time of 31 s. The performance of the air-hose-free thin McKibben muscle such as the contraction ratio was dramatically improved, about four times as compared with the previous muscle.