Possibility of Electro-Active Papers (EAPap) Actuators

Electro-Active Papers(EAPap) 작동기의 가능성 연구

Recently, the advent of electro-active papers (EAPap) actuators has been reported. In this paper, the possibility of the actuators is demonstrated. EAPap is a paper that produces large displacement with small force under an electrical excitation. EAPap is made with a chemically treated paper by constructing thin electrodes on both sides of the paper. When electrical voltage is applied on the electrodes the EAPap produces bending displacement. To improve the bending performance of EAPap, different paper fibers-softwood, hardwood, bacteria cellulose, cellophane, carbon mixture paper, electrolyte containing paper and Korean traditional paper, in conjunction with additive chemicals were tested. Two attempts were made to construct the electrodes: the direct use of aluminum foil and the gold sputtering technique. It was found that a cellophane paper exhibits a remarkable bending performance. When 2MV/m of excitation voltage was applied on the paper actuator, more than 3mm of tip displacement was observed out of the 30 mm long paper beam. This is quite low excitation voltage compared to that of other EAPs. The actuation principle of electro-active paper (EAPap) and possible applications are addressed.