JP2961125B2 - Method for manufacturing polymer actuator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a polymer actuator, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a polymer actuator that functions as an actuator by bending and deforming an ion exchange resin molded product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the fields of medical equipment, industrial robots, micromachines, and the like, there is an increasing need for small, lightweight, and flexible actuators.

As described above, when the size of the actuator is reduced, the friction and the viscous force become dominant over the inertial force. Therefore, a mechanism that uses an inertial force to convert energy into motion, such as a motor or an engine, has been used for an ultra-small actuator. It was difficult to use as power. For this reason, as the operating principle of the micro actuator, electrostatic attraction type, piezoelectric type, ultrasonic type, shape memory alloy type, polymer expansion / contraction type and the like have been proposed.

An electrostatic attraction type actuator operates by attracting a plate, a rod, or the like serving as an electrode to a counter electrode. For example, a voltage of about 100 V is applied between the counter electrode and the electrode at a distance of several tens μm to bend the electrode. Some things are known. Piezoelectric actuators are operated by applying a voltage of several volts to a ceramic piezoelectric element such as barium titanate to expand and contract the element, and are known to be capable of controlling displacement in nm units. An ultrasonic actuator operates by combining ultrasonic vibration generated by a piezoelectric element or the like with frictional force or by causing a shift. The shape memory alloy type actuator is operated by a temperature change, utilizing the fact that the shape of the shape memory alloy changes greatly with the temperature. The polymer telescopic actuator operates by utilizing the fact that a polymer expands and contracts due to a change in temperature or pH or a change in the concentration of a surrounding chemical substance.

[0005] However, these microminiature actuators have problems such as limitations on the operating environment, insufficient responsiveness, complicated structure and lack of flexibility. was there. For example, to operate a polymer telescoping actuator, the solution in contact with the polymer must be exchanged for a solution containing other salts, making it difficult to use in applications that require a small and fast response. Met.

On the other hand, as a polymer actuator which can be easily miniaturized, has a quick response, and operates with low electric power, it comprises an ion exchange membrane and an electrode joined on the surface of the ion exchange membrane. A polymer actuator that can function as an actuator by applying a potential difference to the ion exchange membrane in a water-containing state to cause the ion exchange membrane to bend and deform has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-275078). .

This polymer actuator comprises an ion exchange resin membrane and a metal electrode joined to the surface of the ion exchange resin membrane in an insulated state.
It is characterized in that by applying a potential difference between the metal electrodes, the ion-exchange resin molded product is bent and deformed.

In such a polymer actuator, electrodes are formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product by a method such as chemical plating, electroplating, vacuum deposition, sputtering, coating, pressure bonding, or welding.

For example, in chemical plating, an electrode is formed by etching a surface of an ion-exchange membrane, carrying a plating catalyst, and immersing it in a plating bath to perform plating on the surface of the ion-exchange membrane.

[0010]

However, the above-mentioned polymer actuators cannot be said to have a sufficient displacement. For this reason, the appearance of a polymer actuator that can generate a larger displacement amount and has good responsiveness has been desired.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems associated with the prior art, and has a large displacement amount and a large displacement force, a fast response, a flexible structure, a simple structure, and a small size. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an actuator element which is easy to perform.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above-mentioned objects and objects of the prior art. A resin molded article, and a metal electrode formed in a mutually insulated state on the surface of the ion exchange resin molded article, and in a hydrated state of the ion exchange resin molded article, applying a potential difference between the metal electrodes to form the ion exchange resin. A method for producing a polymer actuator that functions as an actuator by causing a molded article to bend and deform, comprising the following steps: (i) adsorbing a metal complex to an ion-exchange resin molded article in an aqueous solution. Step (adsorption step), (ii) The metal complex adsorbed on the ion-exchange resin molded article is reduced by a reducing agent to deposit metal on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article. Step (precipitation step), (ii)
i) It is characterized in that a metal electrode is formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product or inside the ion-exchange resin molded product by repeatedly performing the step of washing the ion-exchange resin molded product on which the metal is deposited (washing step). .

By forming the metal electrode in such a configuration, the deposition of the metal further proceeds inside the ion exchange resin molded product, and the contact area between the ion exchange resin molded product and the metal electrode further increases. This increases the number of electrode active points,
Ions that migrate to the electrodes also increase. In such a polymer actuator, water molecules move to the electrode accompanying the ions, and the water content increases near the moving-side electrode, and the molded product expands by swelling. In the vicinity of the electrode on the side, the water content decreases and contracts. Therefore, when the number of ions that move to the electrode increases, the number of water molecules that move to the electrode accompanying this ion increases, so that the difference in water content between the electrodes further increases, and the curvature, that is, the displacement amount increases. . Also, since the thickness of the metal electrode increases,
The surface resistance of the electrode is reduced, and the conductivity of the electrode is improved.

Therefore, according to the polymer actuator obtained by the method for manufacturing a polymer actuator of the present invention, the structure is simple, the size can be easily reduced, the response is fast, and a large displacement can be generated. A possible polymer actuator can be obtained.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an optimal example of a polymer actuator obtained by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a polymer actuator 1 comprises an elongated rectangular plate-shaped ion exchange resin molded product 2 and the ion exchange resin molded product 2.
And electrodes 3a and 3b which are formed in a mutually insulated state on the surface of. Then, in a water-containing state of the ion-exchange resin molded product 2, by applying a potential difference between the electrodes, the ion-exchange resin molded product is bent and deformed.

One ends of a pair of lead wires 4a, 4b are electrically connected to the electrodes 3a, 3b, respectively, and the lead wires 4a, 4b are connected to a power supply 5.

The ion-exchange resin molded article 2 includes:
The shape is not limited to the rectangular flat plate shape, but may be a film shape, a columnar shape, a cylindrical shape, or the like. Examples of the ion exchange resin constituting such an ion exchange resin molded product 2 include an anion exchange resin, a cation exchange resin, and both ion exchange resins. Of these, the cation exchange resin is
It is preferably used because the amount of displacement of the polymer actuator can be increased.

Examples of such a cation exchange resin include those in which a functional group such as a sulfonic acid group or a carboxyl group is introduced into polyethylene, polystyrene, fluororesin, or the like. Cation exchange resins into which functional groups such as groups have been introduced are preferred.

The cation exchange resin has an ion exchange capacity of 0.8 to 3.0 meq / g, preferably 1.4 to 3.0 meq / g.
2.0 meq / g is desirable. That is, if a cation exchange resin having such an ion exchange capacity is used, the displacement amount of the polymer actuator can be further increased.

In the present invention, the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article to be used may be roughened. Examples of the roughening treatment of the film surface include a sandblast treatment and a sandpaper treatment. The degree of surface roughening may be such that the surface layer is shaved.

By performing such a roughening process,
The contact area between the surface of the ion exchange resin molded article and the electrode formed thereon is increased, and the displacement of the polymer actuator can be increased.

In the present invention, the following treatments may be applied to the ion-exchange resin molded article used alone or in combination. Water treatment Boil the ion-exchange resin molded product in hot water.

Hydrochloric acid treatment The ion-exchange resin molded product is held in dilute hydrochloric acid of about 25% by volume. NaOH treatment The ion-exchange resin molded product is held in an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution of about 0.1.

Alcohol treatment The ion-exchange resin molded article is immersed in an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol.

Autoclave treatment The ion-exchange resin molded product is placed in an autoclave at 110
Heat at ~ 150 ° C.

Next, a method for manufacturing the polymer actuator according to the present invention will be described. In the method for producing a polymer actuator according to the present invention, (i) a step of adsorbing a metal complex to the ion-exchange resin molded article in an aqueous solution (adsorption step); and (ii) a step of adsorbing the metal complex adsorbed on the ion-exchange resin molded article. Repeatedly performing a step of reducing a reducing agent to deposit a metal on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article (precipitation step), and (iii) a step of washing the ion-exchange resin molded article on which the metal has been precipitated with a cleaning liquid (washing step). By doing so, a metal electrode is formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product or inside the ion-exchange resin molded product.

In this case, as the metal complex, a metal complex such as a gold complex, a platinum complex, a palladium complex, a rhodium complex and a ruthenium complex can be used. Among these, a gold complex or a platinum complex is preferable, and a gold complex is particularly preferable since the displacement amount of the polymer actuator can be increased.

The adsorption of these metal complexes to the ion-exchange resin molded article is performed by immersing the ion-exchange resin molded article in an aqueous solution containing the metal complex. Further, such reduction of the metal complex is performed by immersing the ion-exchange resin molded article on which the metal complex is adsorbed in an aqueous solution containing a reducing agent.

The reducing agent depends on the kind of the metal complex to be used, and includes, for example, sodium sulfite, hydrazine,
Potassium borohydride and the like can be used. Further, when reducing the metal complex, an acid or an alkali may be added as necessary.

In the present invention, the metal complex is formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article by repeating the steps of adsorbing, depositing and washing the metal complex onto the ion-exchange resin molded article. In this case, the number of repetitions is preferably 1 to
It is 20 times, more preferably 4 to 9 times. The number of repetitions is the number of times the metal complex is adsorbed and reduced on the ion-exchange resin molded article and then reduced to form a metal film. If the number of repetitions is 20 or more, the effect of increasing the amount of displacement may not be easily exhibited, and thus it is preferable to use up to 20 times.

In the case of reducing the ion-exchange resin molded article to which the metal complex is adsorbed as in the present invention, metal is deposited on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article by contact of the metal complex with the reducing agent. The metal complex inside the film moves to the vicinity of the film surface (toward the deposited metal) and is reduced to deposit the metal. That is, the crystal growth of the metal proceeds from the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product toward the inside. Therefore, since such metal precipitation is deposited not only on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product but also on the inside near the surface, the contact area between the ion-exchange resin molded product and the metal electrode is:
It is larger than the conventional chemical plating method. For this reason, by repeating the adsorption and precipitation of the metal complex as in the present invention, the deposition of the metal further proceeds inside the ion exchange resin molded product, and the contact area between the ion exchange resin molded product and the metal electrode further increases. As a result, the number of electrode active sites increases, and the number of ions moving to the electrode also increases.

In the polymer actuator according to the present invention, since water molecules move to the electrodes accompanying the ions, the water content increases near the moving-side electrode, so that the water molecules swell and expand. In the vicinity of the electrode on the side opposite to the side, the water content decreases and contracts. As the number of moving ions increases, the difference in water content between the electrodes further increases, so that the curvature, that is, the amount of displacement, increases. Further, since the contact area between the ion-exchange resin molded article and the metal electrode is increased, the surface resistance of the electrode is reduced and the conductivity of the electrode is improved, and the displacement is increased. Therefore, the polymer actuator obtained by the present invention has a larger displacement of the element than the conventional polymer actuator.

In the ion-exchange resin molded article on which the electrodes are formed as described above, the metal complex and the reducing agent that have not been deposited are removed by the washing step. In the present invention, it is preferable to use water, an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid, or an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid as the cleaning solution. The use of these washing liquids enables efficient removal of unreacted metal complex and reducing agent. The concentration of the aqueous sodium hydroxide solution used at this time is desirably in the range of 0.01 to 5.0 mol / l, preferably 0.1 to 1 mol / l. The concentration of the aqueous sulfuric acid solution is 0.01 to
It is desirably in the range of 6 mol / l, preferably in the range of 0.1 to 3 mol / l. Further, the concentration of the aqueous hydrochloric acid solution is 0.01 to 6 mol / l, preferably 0.1 to 6 mol / l.
It is desirably in the range of ３3 mol / liter.

The metal electrode is formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article by the above-described method, and the polymer actuator according to the present invention is manufactured. the thickness of the electrode to be formed, the thickness of the metal electrode formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin moldings as shown in FIG. 2 (a) and a _1, the ion exchange resin molded article including a metal electrode the thickness is taken as b _1,
a ₁ / b ₁ is 0.03 to 0.40, preferably 0.15 to 0.1.
It is desirably in the range of 30. With such a ratio, a polymer actuator having a large displacement and a low surface resistance can be obtained.

When the ion-exchange resin molded article has a cylindrical shape, a metal electrode can be formed on the surface of the outer cylinder or at a position near the surface. The thickness of the metal electrode formed at this time, the thickness of the metal electrode formed on the outer tubular portion or near the surface position of the ion exchange resin moldings as shown in FIG. 2 (b) and a _2, a metal electrode When the thickness of the cylindrical portion of the cylindrical ion-exchange resin molded product including b is defined as b ₂ , a ₂ / b
₂ is in the range of 0.02 to 0.70, preferably 0.30 to 0.50. With such a ratio, a polymer actuator having a large displacement and a low surface resistance can be obtained.

Further, when the ion-exchange resin molded product has a cylindrical shape, a metal electrode can be formed on the surface of the inner cylinder or at a position near the surface. In this case, a thickness of the metal electrode to be formed, the thickness of the metal electrode formed on the inner cylindrical portion or near the surface position of the ion exchange resin moldings as shown in FIG. 2 (c) and a _3, a metal electrode When the thickness of the cylindrical portion of the ion-exchange resin molded product including b is defined as b ₃ , a ₃ / b ₃ is equal to 0.3.
It is desirably in the range of 02 to 0.70, preferably 0.30 to 0.50. With such a ratio, a polymer actuator having a large displacement and a low surface resistance can be obtained.

Further, when the shape of the ion-exchange resin molded article is cylindrical, the outer cylinder portion surface or a position near the surface,
Also, a metal electrode can be formed on the surface of the inner cylinder or at a position near the surface. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2D, the thickness of the cylindrical portion of the ion-exchange resin molded product including the metal electrode is set to b ₄
And C / b ₄ is 0.20, where C is the thickness of the cylindrical portion of the ion-exchange resin molded product on which the metal electrode is not formed.
-0.95, preferably 0.45-0.70. When further the thickness of the metal electrode formed on the outer cylindrical portion or near the surface location and a _4, the thickness of the metal electrode formed on the inner cylindrical portion or near the surface position was a _5, a ₄ / a ₅ is from 0.05 to 20.0, preferably desirable to be in the range of 0.50 to 2.00. With such a ratio, a polymer actuator having a large displacement and a low surface resistance can be obtained.

Insulation between the electrodes formed in this manner can be performed by cutting the end of the ion-exchange resin molded product on which the metal electrode is formed when the molded product is in the form of a film. When the molded product is cylindrical or columnar, the laser beam is applied to the ion-exchange resin molded product on which the metal electrode is formed, and a part of the metal electrode is shaved to form an insulating band between the electrodes. With the provision, insulation between the electrodes can be performed.

Further, the ion exchange resin molded article after the formation of the electrode may be subjected to the above-mentioned treatments. Furthermore, an additional electrode layer may be provided on the formed electrode. The additional electrode layer can be formed by a method such as chemical plating, electroplating, vacuum deposition, sputtering, coating, pressure bonding, welding, and the like. Such an additional electrode layer may be the same as the metal layer formed on the surface of the ion exchange resin molded product or inside the ion exchange resin molded product,
It may be different. By providing the additional electrode layer in this manner, the displacement force of the polymer actuator can be further increased.

The thus obtained polymer actuator of the present invention requires that the ion exchange membrane be in a water-containing state during operation. Here, the water-containing state means that the actuator operates even in the water or in the high humidity atmosphere.

The operating principle of such a polymer actuator is that, when a potential difference is applied between the surfaces of the ion-exchange resin molded product in a mutually insulated state, as shown in FIG. This is because the water molecules move in the membrane along with the + ions, so that a difference in water content occurs between the anode side and the cathode side. That is, the water molecules move along with the + ions, the water content increases on the cathode side, the water content increases, and the water molecules are swollen and expanded, and conversely, the water content decreases on the anode side, so that they shrink, thereby forming the ion exchange resin. This is because the product is curved.

When a DC voltage of 0.1 to 3 V is applied between the electrodes, a displacement of about 0.5 to 3 times the element length is obtained within several seconds. be able to. Further, such a polymer actuator can act flexibly in water.

An application example using such a polymer actuator is, for example, a derivative shown in FIG. In this application example, the guide wire 11 as a derivative is composed of an elongated linear member 12 made of, for example, a tube made of synthetic resin or stainless steel, and a polymer actuator 13 joined to the distal end of the linear member 12. I have.

The actuator 13 has a pair of electrodes formed by the method according to the present invention on both sides of a slightly elongated rectangular plate-like ion exchange resin molded product 14.
By applying a voltage to a and 15b, the polymer actuator 13 bends in two directions.

The electrodes 15a and 15b have
One ends of the pair of lead wires 16a and 16b are electrically connected to each other. These lead wires 16a, 16b are
The other end of each of the lead wires 16 a and 16 b is connected to the operation control unit 17 while being located inside the linear member 12 and extending over the entire length of the linear member 12.

The operation control unit 17 is provided with an operation lever 18 that can be switched. When the operation lever 18 is operated, a built-in operation lever 18 is built in the operation control unit 17.
The direction of the current flowing from the power supply 20 to the pair of lead wires 16a, 16b can be switched via the pole / double throw switch 19.

That is, in FIG. 5, when the double-pole double-throw switch 19 is at the position shown by the solid line, one lead 16a is connected to the + electrode, and the other lead 16b is connected to the-electrode. When the pole / double-throw switch 19 is switched from the neutral position as shown by a two-dot chain line in accordance with the operation of the operation lever 18 of the operation control unit 17, this time, conversely,
One lead 16a is connected to the negative electrode and the other lead 1
6b is connected to the + electrode.

By switching the anode and the cathode in this manner, the polymer actuator 1 can be arbitrarily and positively deformed. According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, a cylindrical polymer actuator 40 as shown in FIG. 6 can also be manufactured.

In such a cylindrical polymer actuator 40, first, a cylindrical ion exchange resin molded product 41 is
The metal complex is adsorbed by the method described above, and the metal complex is reduced by a reducing agent.
Metal is deposited on one surface. The adsorption / reduction of the metal complex and the operation of depositing the metal are repeated to grow the deposited metal, and a metal layer is formed from the surface of the ion exchange resin molded article 41 to the inside.

Next, the surface of the cylindrical ion-exchange resin molded article 41 having the metal layer formed near its outer surface is irradiated with laser light from a laser processing apparatus to remove the irradiated metal layer. A groove-shaped insulating band 42 and a plurality of mutually electrically insulated metal electrodes 43a, 43b,
43c and 43d are formed.

In the polymer actuator shown in FIG. 6, one end of each of lead wires 44a, 44b, 44c and 44d is electrically connected to each of the metal electrodes 43a, 43b, 43c and 43d. Can be bent in four directions by applying a voltage to the electrodes 43a and 43c, 43b and 43d facing each other with the
In addition, the combination of the directions of the curvature enables rotation.

Incidentally, such a metal electrode may be provided on the inner peripheral surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article, or may be provided on both the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface.

[0053]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0054]

Example 1 A film-shaped fluororesin-based ion exchange resin molded article (ion exchange capacity: 1.4 meq / g) having a film thickness of 140 μm was # 800
After roughening the surface with alumina particles, the following (1) to (3)
Step 2 was repeated two cycles to form a gold electrode on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product.

(1) Adsorption step The product is immersed in a phenanthrin gold chloride aqueous solution for 24 hours to adsorb the phenanthrin gold complex in the molded article.

(2) Precipitation Step The adsorbed phenanthrin gold complex is reduced in an aqueous solution containing sodium sulfite and NaOH to form a gold electrode on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded product. At this time, the temperature of the aqueous solution is set to 60 to 80 ° C., and the phenanthrin gold complex is reduced for 6 hours while gradually adding sodium sulfite.

(3) Washing Step The ion-exchange resin molded article having the gold electrode formed on the surface is taken out and washed with 70 ° C. water for 1 hour.

The obtained ionic resin molded product on which the gold electrode was formed was cut into a size of 1.0 mm × 20 mm, and the surface resistance was measured using a test piece as a test piece. In addition, a voltage was applied (both square waves of 0.1 Hz and 2.0 V) through both electrodes on the front and back of the test piece, and the displacement was measured. As shown in FIG. 7, the amount of bending displacement was determined by sandwiching a position 8 mm from one side of the test piece with a platinum plate, holding it in water, and extending a lead wire from the platinum plate.
The test was performed by applying a voltage to gold electrodes at both ends of the test piece via a potentiostat. The displacement was measured at a position 10 mm from the fixed end using a laser displacement meter.

The displacement of the obtained test piece was 2.0 mm,
The surface resistance was 10Ω.

[0060]

Example 2 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated three cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 3.2 m
m and the surface resistance was 5Ω.

[0062]

Example 3 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated four cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 3.7 m.
m and the surface resistance was 2Ω.

[0064]

Example 4 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated for 5 cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 3.9 m
m, and the surface resistance was 1Ω.

[0066]

Example 5 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated six times.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 4.2 m.
m, and the surface resistance was 1Ω.

[0068]

Example 6 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated 7 cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 4.5 m.
m and the surface resistance was 0.5Ω.

[0070]

Example 7 Test pieces were prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated for eight cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 5.0 m.
m and the surface resistance was 0.5Ω.

[0072]

Example 8 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated for 9 cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 5.3 m.
m and the surface resistance was 0.5Ω.

[0074]

Example 9 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were repeated for 10 cycles.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 5.5 m.
m and the surface resistance was 0.5Ω.

[0076]

Comparative Example 1 A test piece was prepared and evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the steps (1) to (3) were not repeated.

As a result, the displacement of the obtained test piece was 2.0 m.
m and the surface resistance was 10Ω. From the above results,
It was found that as the number of repetitions of the steps (1) to (3) increases, a polymer actuator having a large displacement and a small surface resistance can be obtained. In particular, it was found that when the number of repetitions was 4 to 9, the effect on the amount of displacement and the surface resistance was increased.

[0078]

By forming a metal electrode with the structure according to the present invention, deposition of metal further proceeds inside the ion-exchange resin molded product, and the contact area between the ion-exchange resin molded product and the metal electrode further increases. As a result, the number of electrode active sites increases, and the number of ions moving to the electrode also increases. In such a polymer actuator, water molecules move to the electrode accompanying the ions, and the water content increases near the moving-side electrode, and the molded product expands by swelling. In the vicinity of the electrode on the side, the water content decreases and contracts. Therefore, when the number of ions moving to the electrode increases, the number of water molecules moving to the electrode accompanying this ion also increases, so that the difference in water content between the electrodes further increases, and the curvature, that is, the displacement amount increases. . In addition, since the thickness of the metal electrode is increased, the surface resistance of the electrode is reduced and the conductivity of the electrode is improved, so that the response is faster.

Accordingly, since the present invention has the above-described structure, the polymer actuator which has a simple structure, can be easily miniaturized, has a quick response, has a large displacement, and can be operated with low power. Can be obtained.

Therefore, when the polymer actuator according to the present invention is joined to the distal end of the guide member main body of the microdevice, the guide can be arbitrarily and positively bent (deformed) by the operation of the operation control section. The guiding performance of microsurgery medical instruments such as scissors, forceps, snares, laser scalpels, and spatula, various sensors, and microdevices such as tools connected to the tip of the main body can be improved. It can be oriented in any direction, and its operation can be performed quickly and easily without skill.

Therefore, such a micro device and a micro machine provided with the micro device can be used, for example, in eye surgery,
Application to medical instruments such as tweezers, scissors, forceps, snares, laser scalpels, spatula, clips, etc. in microsurgery technologies such as laparoscopic surgery and microvascular suturing surgery, alleviates the pain given to patients during examination and treatment as much as possible Thus, the physical and mental burden on the patient can be reduced.

Further, such a micro device and a micro machine provided with the micro device can be used for various sensors for inspecting and repairing a plant such as a power generation facility, a piping system of a mechanical system such as an aircraft engine, the inside of an engine, etc. If the present invention is applied to a tool or the like, the repair work can be reliably performed without requiring labor and time.

Further, in addition to the above, the polymer actuator according to the present invention includes a micropump using high-frequency vibration, a health appliance such as an auxiliary power massager for rehabilitation, a hygrometer, a hygrometer control device, a soft manipulator, an underwater valve. It can also be suitably used for industrial equipment such as soft transport equipment, underwater mobiles such as goldfish and seaweed, and hobby supplies such as moving fishing baits and propelling fins.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a polymer actuator obtained by a manufacturing method according to the present invention in a state where no voltage is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of a polymer actuator obtained by a manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a polymer actuator obtained by a manufacturing method according to the present invention in a voltage applied state.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an application example of a polymer actuator obtained by the manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view showing a main part of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an example of still another polymer actuator obtained by the manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the principle of measuring the amount of displacement measured in Examples 1 to 9 and Comparative Example 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 polymer actuator 2 ion exchange resin molded product 3, 3 a, 3 b electrode 4, 4 a, 4 b lead wire 5 power supply 6 ion

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuo Ohnishi 1-26-10-304, Higashi-Mukonosho-Higashi, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture Toshihiko Kuribayashi (56) References JP 8-280187 (JP, A) JP 9-79129 (JP, A) JP 9-84372 (JP, A) JP 7-4075 (JP, A) B2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H02N 11/00 F03G 7/00 A61M 25/01

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An ion-exchange resin molded article and a metal electrode formed on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article in a mutually insulated state. A method for producing a polymer actuator that functions as an actuator by applying a potential difference to the ion-exchange resin molded product to cause the ion-exchange resin molded product to bend and deform, comprising the following steps: A step of adsorbing the metal complex in an aqueous solution (adsorption step); and (ii) a step of reducing the metal complex adsorbed on the ion-exchange resin molded article with a reducing agent to deposit a metal on the surface of the ion-exchange resin molded article. (Precipitation step) and (iii) the step of washing the ion-exchange resin molded article on which the metal is deposited (washing step) is repeatedly performed to obtain the ion-exchange resin molded article surface or A method for manufacturing a polymer actuator, comprising forming a metal electrode up to the inside of an ion exchange resin molded product.