Paper:
Creeping and Novel Huge Bending of Plasticized PVC
Md. Zulhash Uddin, Masashi Watanabe, Hirofusa Shirai, and Toshihiro Hirai
Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan
We actuated poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) gel by applying a do field, and found localized creeping deformation, which induced swift, huge bending like a joint. The bending angle reached ca.150° at maximum at the field of 1000 V mm-1 with the velocity of ca. 90° s-1. The electric current was very small and in the range of 68 nA cm-2 . The mechanism of reversible, marked bending was studied using blocking and contact electrodes. The gel consisted of PVC and dioctyl phthalate (DOP), and was free of electrolytes. The concept is simple and applicable to conventional polymer materials. It could serve for developing new classes of soft and durable mechanically functional materials.
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Copyright© 2002 by Fuji Technology Press Ltd. and Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. All right reserved.