Ecofriendly low voltage high-performance ionic artificial muscles based on bacterial cellulose nanofibers reinforced with polyvinyl alcohol

High-performance electroactive ionic artificial muscles have received widespread attention in braille displays, haptic devices, active biomedical devices, and soft robots. Herein, we report a novel low voltage ecofriendly ionic polymer actuator based on bacterial cellulose (BC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and ionic liquid (IL). The designed BC-IL-PVA actuator exhibited superior actuation performances, such as low driving voltage (< 1.5 V), long bending durability (97% retention for 4 h), and large bending strain (0.29% at sinusoidal waveform of 1.0 V with 0.1 Hz), and wide driving frequency (up to 5 Hz), which were ascribed to the strong crosslinking and ionic interactions of BC nanofibers with PVA and IL. Furthermore, a bionic finger based on the designed actuator was successfully demonstrated for playing music and sliding electronic photos on smart photo screens. Therefore, the proposed BC-IL-PVA ionic actuator will offer a feasible approach for developing high-performance soft actuators, artificial muscles, active medical devices, and soft robots.