A parametric study of the electromechanical response of ionic polymer transducers is presented. This study is designed to investigate the impacts of loading condition, solvent type and counter-ion on the macroscopic response of the ionic polymer and how this translates to the internal mechanisms that govern the charge-to-strain sensitivity observed in these materials. In this study three separate loading conditions are considered focusing on the material response to imposed bending, elongation and applied pressure. These tests are conducted to illustrate the difference between the mechanisms involved in sensing and actuation. The study is then expanded to include a range of solvents and their influence on the material sensitivity. Solvent types are selected to provide a range of dielectric constants (5.1-78.4) as well as viscosities in an effort to study their impact on ion transport and the actuation response. Each of the measurements is repeated for a number of counter-ion species. Varying the size and valence of the cation, material sensitivity is again measured and related to the known size and concentration of the counter-ion. These results are then compiled and compared in order to draw conclusions about specific material properties and parameters, specifically on the cross coupling terms that relate the sensing and actuation responses of the ionic polymer transducer. A discussion of the impact of these findings is also presented, along with a discussion of how these findings may be used later for empirical and analytical modeling efforts.
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