A bio-gel electric actuator prepared from tannic acid and carboxymethyl cellulose by green cross-linking process with good output performance

In this article, a chitosan-based bio-gel electric actuator with tannic acid and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)as cross-linked materials was fabricated. By evaluating the output force and electrochemical characteristics of the electric actuator under different doping amounts of tannic acid and CMC, it was found that the sample with appropriate amount of cross-linking can improve its output force, service life, specific capacitance. Infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), and ion channel test showed that tannic acid and CMC were uniformly distributed in the chitosan matrix. The proper crosslinking was beneficial to transform the internal dense and uniform structure into a loose and porous structure, promote the migration of ions, improve the electrochemical performance of the electric actuator, and thereby improve its output performance. This study provided a facile and eco-friendly method to construct chitosan-based electromotive membrane with enhanced output properties.