Analysis of the Performance of a Gel Actuator Made of Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride/Carboxylated Cellulose Nanocrystals

Muhammad Irfan; Imdad Ali; Ahmed Ali; Mushtaq Ahmed; Toufique A Soomro; Weimin Yang; Saifur Rahman; Salim Nasar Faraj Mursal; Mohammed Jalalah; Abdulnour Ali Jazem Ghanim

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c01172

Analysis of the Performance of a Gel Actuator Made of Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride/Carboxylated Cellulose Nanocrystals

ACS Omega. 2023 May 8;8(20):17976-17982. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c01172. eCollection 2023 May 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh 67450, Pakistan.
³ College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Eletrical Engineering Department, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur 65200, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea.
⁶ Department of Electronic Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology, Larkana Campus, Larkana, Sindh 67480, Pakistan.
⁷ Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Recently, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gel materials appeared promising for developing actuators, artificial muscles, and sensors. However, their energized response time and recovery limitations restrict their broader applications. Herein, a novel soft composite gel was prepared by mixing functionalized carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (CCNs) and plasticized PVC. The surface morphology of the plasticized PVC/CCNs composite gel was characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The prepared PVC/CCNs gel composites have increased polarity and electrical actuation with a fast response time. Experimental results demonstrated good response characteristics within the actuator model with a multilayer electrode structure when stimulated with a specified DC voltage (1000 V), with deformation of approximately 36.7%. Moreover, this PVC/CCNs gel has excellent tensile elongation, and the elongation at break of the PVC/CCNs gel is greater than the elongation at break of the pure PVC gel under the same thickness conditions. However, these PVC/CCNs composite gels showed excellent properties and development potential and are directed for broad applications in actuators, soft-robotics, and biomedical applications.