Highly flexible, large-deformation ionic polymer metal composites for artificial muscles: Fabrication, properties, applications, and prospects

Intelligent materials are one of the important directions in the development of modern high-tech new materials, realizing structural functionalization and functional diversification. As a new type of intelligent material, ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) artificial muscle is considered as an ideal material to develop the next generation of flexible robots. In this paper, the working principle of IPMC is analyzed from the microscopic perspective. Subsequently, the fabrication technologies of IPMC are divided into two categories according to their complexity: single fabrication technology and combined fabrication technology, and the effective combination of several methods in the combined fabrication technology is highlighted. The properties of IPMC prepared by different methods are analyzed and compared. The research advances of IPMC in flexible actuation robots and intelligent sensing systems are analyzed in detail. Finally, the future development directions are discussed and foreseen. This paper will provide guidance for the fabrication of high performance IPMC and lay the theoretical foundation for the design and application of IPMC.