Organizing Committee Member
Seiki Chiba
Executive Director
Chiba Science Institute
Japan
Biography
Seiki Chiba was Executive Director for Advanced R&D Project Development, Stanford Research Institute (SRI International). He served on SRI for 20 years. He was supervising advanced R&D programs including Japanese Government projects. Now, he is CEO, Chiba Science Institute. He is the author or coauthor of more than 300 publications in various areas including artificial muscle actuators & generators, hydrogen safety, and high temperature membranes for hydrogen production. He has a PhD in Metallurgy & Material Science from the University of Wales (Britain). He received IAAM Medal for outstanding contribution in the field of Advanced Material Science and Technology
Research Area
Soft transducers made of synthetic or natural materials, capable of converting physical or chemical energy into mechanical work in response to various environmental stimuli such as salt, pH, humidity, heat, solvent, light, magnetic or, electric field, and light, have been gaining attention for biomimetic actuators. Some of the transducers have also been shown to operate in reverse as a generator. This lecture discusses electroactive polymer (EAP) transducers (see Figure 1). EAP can be generally classified into two categories: Wet (ionic) and electronic (electronic field responsive). Wet polymers use electrically driven mass transport of ions or electrically charged species to effect a change in the shape (or vice versa). Electronic polymers use an electric field to effect a shape change by acting directly on charges within the polymer (or vice versa).