Soft Materials and Electrochemical Applications

Our poor understanding of how the conditions of electropolymerization affect the properties and stability of the final product (a thick film suitable for technological applications) hinders any possibility for determining the 

In general, those properties of industrial interest that are related to the electrochemical rates change several orders of magnitude when the conditions of synthesis are improved and when a solvent suitable for the specific application is used to produce the polymeric gel. We found this to be the case in our laboratory between the first and second generation of artificial muscles, with electrochromic films, or with specific energies. 

The action of a muscle is a consequence of electrochemically stimulated conformational relaxation processes that occur along every electroactive chain inside a polymeric film. A free-volume model dependent on the 

Any device (battery, supercapacitor, smart mirror, or muscle) stored in a compacted state requires an initial activation-relaxation before use. 

DalFOlio, Y. Dascola, V. Varacca, and V. Bocchi, Compt. Rend. C267 (1968) 433. 

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