This project focus on the investigation of ionic Electroactive Polymers (EAPs) as an electrolyte in the creation of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMCs). The polymer electrolyte is coated with a noble metal (gold) and used for the study of actuation, that is, inducing a change in the shape of the material by the application of an electric current. Firstly a review in EAP actuators is provided, explaining the different mechanisms of actuation, their applications and their potential improvements for future research and work. Later on, it is explained how we built an IPMC and how we implemented actuation in it. Different techniques were used in order to characterize our material such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) or Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The material was also subjected to tensile tests in an INSTRON machine to evaluate their strength and Young's modulus. This work intends to demonstrate a simple and cheap method to build EAP actuators with adequate properties in terms of stress, strain, actuation fatigue life and efficiency for application in some fields as a safer, cheaper and suitable alternative to conventional actuators.