o meet the requirements of modern small actuators in microminiaturiza tion, intelligentization, multifunction and large integration, this paper develo ped a novel threefinger flexible microgripper made of ionic polymermetal com posites (IPMC), a type of smart materials. The microgripper tip displacement and its corresponding distribution at 3 V were calculated by using ANSYS (a commerc ial finite element analysis software) based on the electromechanical coupling model of an equivalent bimorph beam. According to the simulation results, a hold ing device of the IPMC gripper with the volume of no more tham 13.5 cm３〖ＫＧ ２〗was designed and manufactured. Test results demonstrated that the maximum displacem ent at the free end of the IPMC actuator (19 mm long with its deformable length of 14 mm) was 22 mm (the sum of positive and negative displacements) by 3 V, an d the maximal deformation velocity was about 444 mm／s. Besides, the gripper w ith a mass of 1033 g could grasp an object of 1973 g; in that case, the thru st weight ratio was close to 2, and it would be over 115 if only considering the IPMC materials (total mass was 0177 g). Therefore, the performance of this IP MC gripper can satisfy the design demand of low energy consumption, and it has f ollowing merits: simple structure, flexible, quiet, small volume and large thrus t weight ratio, etc., and offers a promising prospect for its application in the microactuator field.