Ionic polymeric conductor nanocomposites (IPCNCs) as distributed nanosensors and nanoactuators.

This paper covers advances made in connection with ionic polymeric conductor nanocomposites (IPCNCs) as distributed biomimetic nanosensors, nanoactuators, nanorobots and artificial muscles. A review of the fundamental properties and characteristics of IPCNCs will be presented first. This summary will include descriptions of the basic materials' molecular structure and subsequent procedure to manufacture the basic material for chemical plating and electroactivation. Further described are chemical molecular plating technologies to make IPCNCs; nanotechnologies of manufacturing and trapping of nanoparticles; SEM, TEM, SPM and AFM characterization of IPMNCs; biomimetic sensing and actuation characterization techniques; electrical characterization; and equivalent circuit modeling of IPCNCs as electronic materials. A phenomenological model of the underlying sensing and actuation mechanisms is also presented based on linear irreversible thermodynamics with two driving forces, an electric field and a solvent pressure gradient and two fluxes, electric current density and the ionic+solvent flux.