Highly controllable electroactive materials and electroactive actuators capable of pronounced contraction and expansion

A method for producing an electroactive material and an electroactive actuator capable of contraction and expansion, comprising:

• providing at least one conductive electrode and reactants comprising at least one ion-containing monomer, at least one cross-linking agent with a functionality of 3 or greater, and at least one diluent compatible with said ion-containing monomer(s);
• polymerizing and cross-linking said reactants to produce said electroactive material and said electroactive actuator comprising said electroactive material and the at least one conductive electrode;
• and
• controlling and amplifying the direction of movement of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) in one or more desired directions by restricting the movement in the other undesired direction(s) of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) to produce contraction and expansion;
• wherein cross-linking said reactants comprises cross-linking said reactants with two or more different cross-linking agents to produce electroactive materials having bimodal or multi-modal behavior.

A method for producing an electroactive material and an electroactive actuator capable of contraction and expansion, comprising:

• providing at least one conductive electrode and reactants comprising at least one ion-containing monomer, at least one cross-linking agent with a functionality of 3 or greater, and at least one diluent compatible with said ion-containing monomer(s);
• polymerizing and cross-linking said reactants to produce said electroactive material and said electroactive actuator comprising said electroactive material and the at least one conductive electrode;
• and
• controlling and amplifying the direction of movement of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) in one or more desired directions by restricting the movement in the other undesired direction(s) of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) to produce contraction and expansion;
• providing two links forming an X shape;
• providing at least two actuators comprising said electroactive materials;
• and
• actuating the two links using the two actuators;
• wherein the two actuators are arranged on opposite sides of the X shaped joint, working together, and are both either contracting or expanding with electric input, to respectively bring the links closer together or further apart, and wherein the electric polarity of the actuators can be reversed to produce the opposite linked motion.

A method for producing an electroactive material and an electroactive actuator capable of contraction and expansion, comprising:

• providing at least one conductive electrode and reactants comprising at least one ion-containing monomer, at least one cross-linking agent with a functionality of 3 or greater, and at least one diluent compatible with said ion-containing monomer(s);
• polymerizing and cross-linking said reactants to produce said electroactive material and said electroactive actuator comprising said electroactive material and the at least one conductive electrode;
• and
• controlling and amplifying the direction of movement of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) in one or more desired directions by restricting the movement in the other undesired direction(s) of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) to produce contraction and expansion;
• provided three or more said actuators;
• and
• arranging the three or more said actuators around a ball-and-socket joint (a universal joint) equally spaced;
• and/or providing and operating two or more links attached to said ball-and-socket joint singly or together in contraction and expansion modes to provide motion.

A method for producing an electroactive material and an electroactive actuator capable of contraction and expansion, comprising:

• providing at least one conductive electrode and reactants comprising at least one ion-containing monomer, at least one cross-linking agent with a functionality of 3 or greater, and at least one diluent compatible with said ion-containing monomer(s);
• polymerizing and cross-linking said reactants to produce said electroactive material and said electroactive actuator comprising said electroactive material and the at least one conductive electrode;
• and
• controlling and amplifying the direction of movement of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) in one or more desired directions by restricting the movement in the other undesired direction(s) of said electroactive material(s) and said electroactive actuator(s) to produce contraction and expansion;
• enclosing said electroactive material in two or more porous pouches and flowing a solvent freely in and out of said pouches;
• wherein the two or more porous pouches are each pouch independently wired to provide movement when electrically activated.