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Figure 1

From: Dip-coating electromechanically active polymer actuators with SIBS from midblock-selective solvents to achieve full encapsulation for biomedical applications

Figure 1

Encapsulated ionic electromechanically active polymer actuator in smart tools for biomedical applications. Steerable actuator navigation in branched channels (A). A 20 mm × 1 mm × 150 µm (length × width × thickness) encapsulated polypyrrole (PPy) actuator steered in tortuous vasculature mock-up, snapshot from the Supplementary Video 1 (B). Working principle of a trilayer bending type electromechanically active polymer actuator that can be used for navigation in tortuous branching channels as demonstrated in the Supplementary Video 1 (C). SEM image of the cross-section of a miniaturized and encapsulated 250 µm × 150 µm (width × thickness) PPy actuator (D) showing complete coverage of both the electrode area as well as the actuator's sides. The actuator is dip-coated (E) in the solvent atmosphere using 1 mm/s as the dipping and withdrawal speed. Encapsulating polymer (SIBS) structure (F) and possible block copolymer chain aggregation behaviours in midblock-selective solvents that could result in improved coating performance without the use of surfactants (G).

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