This paper presents the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of an ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) material. The IPMC materials are known to bend when electric field is applied on the electrodes. The material also produces potential difference on the electrodes when is bent. Several authors have used the FEA to describe that fenomenon and rather precise basic Finite Element (FE) models already exist. Therefore the current study is mainly focused on the modeling of the electrodes of IPMC. The first goal of this research is to model the electric currents in the electrodes. The basis of the electric current calculations is the Ramo-Shockley theorem, which has been used in the other areas of physics to describe the currents in a circuit due to a charge movement in a media. We have used the theorem to calculate the current density in the continuous electrodes of IPMC due to the ion migration in the backbone polymer. Along the current densities we are able to calculate voltage on the electrode at a given time moment. The model is demonstrated to give some physically reasonable results. However, the model is rather complex and as the solution times are quite large, some possible optimizations have been considered as well. The second goal of this study is to include the dynamic resistance and capacitance of the electrodes in our model. Lot of research has been done to develop a physically reasonable capacitor-resistor model of an IPMC and the results have been promising. Furthermore, some authors have managed to develop partial differential equations (PDE) to describe the model. We try to include some simplified versions of those equations into our physical model. As the FE model for IPMC is nonlinear and gets complicated very fast when additional equations are added, the final sections of this paper briefly considers some novel optimization ideas in regard to modeling IPMC with FE method.

Cellulose Electro-Active Paper (EAPap) has been discovered as a smart material that can be used as a sensor and actuator [1]. It has many advantages in terms of low voltage operation, light weight, low power consumption, low cost, biocompatibility and biodegradability. EAPap is made with cellulose paper coated with thin electrodes. EAPap shows a reversible and reproducible bending movement as well as longitudinal displacement under electric field. The out-of-plane bending deformation is useful for achieving flapping wings, micro-insect robots, and smart wall papers. On the other hand, in-plane strains, such as extension and contraction of EAPap materials are also promising for artificial muscle applications. The actuation principle of cellulose EAPap bending actuator is known to be a combination of piezoelectric effect and ion migration effect. This paper presents further investigation of cellulose EAPap for actuator, sensor and MEMS devices. Piezoelectricity is one of major actuating mechanism of cellulose EAPap. Cellulose is a complex anisotropic material. Aligning cellulose fibers in the fabrication process is a critical parameter to improve mechanical and electromechanical properties of EAPap such as stiffness, strength, piezoelectricity and so on. Cotton cellulose fibers are dissolved into a solution using NaOH/urea and DMAc/LiCl methods. In the later method, the dissolution and shaping of cellulose can be carried out by DMAc/LiCl. Cellulose pulp was mixed with lithium chloride (LiCl) and dehydrated by heating. After adding DMAc (N, N-dimethylacetamide) to the mixture, swell it in room temperature. By heating it a solution formation can be obtained. There are some issues on eliminating solvent and ions and regenerating a pure cellulose films. The material processing all about EAPap has been introduced [2, 3]. Wet drawn stretching method is used in the fabrication process of cellulose film to increase its mechanical and electromechanical properties. This wet-drawn cellulose EAPap is termed as Piezo-Paper. Cellulose EAPap material can be customized to satisfy the material requirement for specific applications. Piezo-Paper can be used for strain sensors, vibration sensors, ultrasonic transducers, SAW devices, speakers, microphones, stack actuators, bending actuators and MEMS devices. Figure 1 shows some applications. Piezoelectric charge constant of Piezo-Paper is 70 pC/N. Details of piezoelectric characteristics of Piezo-Paper and its applications are presented in this paper. Micro-fabrication on cellulose EAPap has many applications, for example, MEMS sensors, e-Paper, thin film transistor (TFT), and even microwave-driven EAPap actuator. To develop microwave-driven EAPap actuator, rectenna (rectifying antenna) has been developed [4]. Rectenna can rectify microwaves and feed dc power without wire. Thus, this technology has many applications. To fabricate the rectenna array on cellulose EAPap, micro patterning of metallic layer and Schottky diode fabrication were studied. The Schottky diode fabrication gives the possibility of TFT on cellulose sheet. Advancing from this technology, SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) device fabrication for humidity sensor is possible. The devices fabrication along with the characterization and their demonstration will be shown. Cellulose EAPap technology will bring the dream of flying magic paper into real world in the near future.