Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
10
Epilogue and
Conclusions
10.1
EPILOGUE
This topic covers advanced ionic polymeric nanocomposites as distributed nano-
sensors, nanotransducers, nanoactuators, and artificial muscles. As such, it is the first
topic of its kind to cover such revolutionary and futuristic advanced nanocomposites
and smart materials. This topic is a result of 15 years of research and development
on advanced ionic polymeric nanocomposites. It essentially covers an introduction
to ionic polymers, intelligent gels, and artificial muscles and goes on to cover
• ionic polymer-metal nanocomposite (IPMNC) artificial muscles: funda-
mentals
• manufacturing techniques for IPMNC artificial muscles
• ionic polyacrylonitrile (PAN) chemoelectromechanical artificial mus-
cles/nanomuscles
• AMPS gel artificial muscles
•
modeling and simulation for IPMNCs as biomimetic distributed nanosen-
sors, nanoactuators, nanotransducers, and artificial muscles
•
sensing, transduction, feedback control, and robotic applications of arti-
ficial muscles
•
conductive polymers as artificial muscles
•
engineering, industrial, and medical applications of IPMNCs and smart
materials
Furthermore, note that as the demand for energy grows, the need for more
efficient energy conversion devices increases. One area of improvement is the use
of direct energy conversion processes and devices. Advanced ionic polymeric nano-
composites as discussed in this topic present a tremendous potential for energy
harvesting and are the foundation of current state-of-the-art devices to convert
chemical or electrical energy into mechanical energy to perform useful work. In the
field of sensing, devices equipped with IPMNCs can provide an efficient way of
converting mechanical energy into electrical or chemical forms.
The work done in this topic summarizes efforts on a family of ionic polymeric
nanocomposites that have proven to be a viable alternative to conventional means.
The synthesis and application of these materials and their corresponding modeling
shows great promise as alternative smart and intelligent materials for use in soft
robotics, engineering, medicine, biotechnology, and industrial applications.
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