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Electrostriction of highly swollen polymer gel: Possible application for gel actuator
Author(s) -
Hirai Toshihiro,
Nemoto Hiroshi,
Hirai Mitsuhiro,
Hayashi Sadao
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1994.070530109
Subject(s) - electrostriction , actuator , materials science , electric field , vinyl alcohol , polymer , artificial muscle , electroactive polymers , electrode , electrochemistry , polymer chemistry , composite material , chemical engineering , chemistry , electrical engineering , piezoelectricity , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
A gel of poly(vinyl alcohol) highly swollen with dimethyl sulfoxide was demonstrated to actuate at a much faster rate (more than 1000 times) than those reported on conventional gel actuators in air and to flap a wing of 12.5 cm at a rate of 2 Hz with a span of 10 cm by periodically applying electric field. The action (8% in length) induced by the electric field reached several hundreds times larger than those reported on the conventional ferroelectric solid materials. The electrostrictive gel was, thus, found to be a promising candidate material as a novel type of actuator or artificial muscle by having overcome some difficulties in responding time, electrochemical reactions on the electrodes, and magnitude of action in conventional methods or materials. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.