Palladium-buffered Pt electrodes

As described in the previous section, the electroless chemical deposition is a suitable method for depositing Pt on a Nafion membrane. The interfacial effect between the electrode and the polymer membrane is one of the fac- 

To characterize the surface morphology and layer property of the deposited electrodes, IPMCs with different metal electrodes were probed using a scan- 

To verify the Pd distribution in the polymer, EDS measurements were performed. In a Pt/Pd IPMC, palladium particles uniformly diffuse deeply into the membrane as shown in Fig. 2.7. The Pt IPMC, constructed of 

It is clear that the Pt/Pd IPMCs have some advantages over the conventional Pt IPMCs when it comes to electromechanical actuation. Also mechanoelectrical transduction was measured by using a shaker assembly, programmed to produce sinusoidal mechanical vibration with 12.7 nun displacement. The preliminary results show that the produced voltage of a Pt/Pd IPMC is nearly twice the amplitude of the signal produced by a Pt IPMC. This enhancement of the mechanoelectrical transduction characteristic is likely due to the improved surface conductivity of Pt/Pd IPMCs. 

In conclusion, by adopting a palladium electrode as a buffer layer, improved surface morphology was achieved and the surface conductivity was 

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