Cédric Plesse obtained his Ph.D. (2004) in macromolecular chemistry at the University of Cergy-Pontoise for which he received the 2005 French Ph.D. Prize by the Groupe Français des Polymères (GFP). From 2004 to 2006, he joined the University of Laval (Canada) as postdoctoral researcher to develop optical and electrochemical biosensors based on conjugated polymers. In 2006, he is recruited as assistant professor at the Laboratory of Physicochemistry of Polymers and Interfaces (LPPI) at the University of Cergy-Pontoise. His research focused on the synthesis and characterization of conducting polymer-based electroactive materials, such as soft ionic actuators and organic electronics. He defended his habilitation (HDR) in 2014 and was promoted full professor at CY Cergy Paris University in 2021. Since 2022, he is deputy director of the LPPI and president of the international conference committee EuroEAP, focusing on electroactive polymers and soft transducers.
Title: Ionic electroactive polymer actuators and sensors for soft robotics
Abstract: Electroactive polymers (EAPs) are a class of smart materials able to display volume or shape changes when exposed to an electrical stimulation and able, most of the time to operate in a reverse way as soft mechanical sensors. These polymeric transducers are soft, lightweight, silent and sometime biocompatible, making them promising candidates for various applications in the fields of soft robotics, microsystems, biomedical devices and wearables.
Among these materials, ionic EAPs are especially interesting since, as living systems, their operating principle relies on the motions of ions as charge carriers. They are usually built by the combination of an electrically conducting material such as metal, carbon or electronic conducting polymers, and of an ionic conducting gel acting as an ion source/sink, essential for the operation of the device.
In this presentation, the elaboration of ionic polymeric transducers acting both as soft actuators and soft sensors will be discussed through the synthesis and association of soft, stretchable and highly conducting electrodes and ionic gels. Applications in soft (micro-)robotics and smart textiles will be briefly exposed.