声-光-力-热耦合作用下光热敏感水凝胶的溶胀变形行为

超声波在两种介质间传播时，声动量的转移在界面处产生超声辐射应力引发水凝胶形变。为研究光热敏感水凝胶在超声波、光辐射、机械载荷以及温度耦合作用下的大变形行为，采用变分法建立了光热敏感水凝胶声-光-力-热耦合本构模型，研究了声匹配条件下水凝胶单轴预拉伸时超声波强度、光强和温度对其溶胀行为的影响。研究结果表明：单轴预拉伸数值越大，水凝胶的平衡溶胀率越大；超声波强度越强，水凝胶的平衡溶胀率越大，平衡溶胀率随超声波强度增大呈线性递增关系；而随着温度升高，水凝胶的平衡溶胀率先减小后增大，存在一极小值；平衡溶胀率达到极小值时的温度值随预拉伸和超声波强度的增加而升高，随光强增加而降低；当环境温度超过极小值出现时的温度值后，预拉伸和超声波强度变化对水凝胶溶胀行为几乎没有影响，但光强变化对水凝胶溶胀行为仍有一定影响。     

介电弹性体的研究进展

介电弹性体是一类在外加电场激励下可以发生形变,进行能量转换的新型纺织材料,属于电活性聚合物,电活性聚合物有电子型和离子型之分。介电弹性体在柔性驱动器的设计研究中有很广阔的应用前景,但是目前还存在很多技术难点,在弹性体基体材料构成、柔性电极材料优化,能量收集等方面仍然需更深入的研究。本文在明晰了介电弹性体的工作原理及分类后,对其在电极、预拉伸、温度和能量收集等方面进行了归纳总结,并对其应用前景进行了展望。     

纳米TiO_2/硅橡胶复合材料的制备及研究

介电弹性体是一种通过在其两端施加电压就能够获得变形的材料。硅橡胶类介电弹性体因变形响应速度快、可自由制备、温度适用范围广等优点而备受关注,但是因介电常数较低、激发电场强度较高、电致变形较小等缺点制约了其发展。针对这些问题,本文以液体硅橡胶为基体,以纳米TiO_2为填料,通过溶液混合法制备了纳米TiO_2/硅橡胶复合材料,并对其介电性能、电致变形性能进行测试。结果表明,通过在聚合物基体中添加纳米TiO_2,提高了其介电常数,降低了介电损耗,能够获得较大的电致变形。     

电致变形聚合物材料及其应用

电致变形聚合物材料(EISCP)是一类对电刺激有变形响应的材料,即在某一电场或电流的间歇或持续刺激下,该材料的形状会做出特定的变形响应,当电场或电流消失后,形状又会趋于恢复。EISCP在智能器件、人工肌肉、仿生机器人以及药物载体等领域有广泛的应用前景。本文提出将EISCP的变形机理分为电场响应型与电流响应型两大类,并进一步将两种机理细致划分。另外,从材料出发,综述了基于介电弹性体、铁电聚合物、电致液晶弹性体、电致伸缩接枝弹性体、碳纳米管复合材料、离子聚合物-金属复合材料、电致变形水凝胶、电致形状记忆聚合物及导电聚合物九种EISCP的研究进展及应用。最后,基于目前EISCP存在的一些问题(如响应速度慢、变形量小以及变形响应高度依赖"开-关"刺激等),对其发展做出了展望。     

介电弹性体致动器的结构设计及应用

介电弹性体作为一种新型的电活性高分子聚合物,当受到电场的激励时会产生变形,撤销电场后能够恢复原状,具有将电能直接转换为机械能的特点。通过将其设计成具有不同结构的致动器,能够提高变形能力,并且满足不同的应用需求。本文介绍了介电弹性体致动器的致动机理,阐明了它们是能够以直线方式产生运动的线性致动器,在此基础上可设计出不同结构的致动器,主要归纳了各种介电弹性体致动器,从它们的性能特征、加工技术和潜在应用等方面进行了讨论。     

用于介电弹性体发电机的材料研究进展

介电弹性体作为一种新型的电活性材料,具有变形大、质量轻、能量密度高等特点,是实现现代新兴发电机技术的材料之一。本文首先介绍了介电弹性体材料在发电模式下的工作原理,接着梳理了介电弹性体材料的分类、材料优化,从其拉伸结构出发介绍了其应用,最后归纳了当前研究存在的问题并展望了未来的研究方向。     

聚乙烯醇硫酸钾水凝胶电机械化学行为研究

通过将交联聚乙烯醇硫酸酯化的方法制备了一种新型电刺激响应性聚乙烯醇硫酸钾(PVSK)智能水凝胶,并探讨了溶液离子强度和pH对PVSK水凝胶的溶胀吸水率、机械性能以及电机械化学行为的影响.结果表明,制备的PVSK水凝胶的平衡溶胀比随NaCl溶液离子强度的增大而减小,在pH2.39～10.83范围内基本不受溶液pH的影响;经不同离子强度和pH的NaCl溶液充分溶胀的PVSK水凝胶具有良好的机械性能,在非接触的直流电场作用下,该水凝胶向电场负极弯曲,凝胶的弯曲速度和弯曲偏转量随外加电场强度的增加而增大,随NaCl溶液离子强度的增大出现临界最大值,但不随溶液pH(2.08～10.53)的改变而改变;在循环电场作用下,PVSK水凝胶的电机械化学行为具有良好的可逆性.     

天然高分子电场敏感水凝胶——大豆蛋白/羧甲基壳聚糖体系

通过将大豆蛋白(SPI)和羧甲基壳聚糖(CMCS)进行溶液共混,并加入环氧氯丙烷作为交联剂,成功制备了一种天然高分子两性荷电水凝胶.这种SPI/CMCS水凝胶在电场的作用下可以快速弯向一侧电极,表现出很好的电场敏感性.由于该水凝胶具有两性荷电的特性,因此其在不同pH值的电解质溶液中既可以弯向阳极(当pH6时),也可以弯向阴极(当pH6时).除了pH的变化,其他诸如施加电压的大小以及水凝胶的厚度也会对SPI/CMCS水凝胶在电场中的行为产生影响.相比于先前报道的另外两种天然高分子电场敏感水凝胶,即壳聚糖/羧甲基纤维素水凝胶和壳聚糖/羧甲基壳聚糖水凝胶,SPI/CMCS水凝胶在酸性较强(pH=3～4)以及中性(pH=7)的环境中仍能表现出良好的电场敏感性,拓展了天然高分子电场敏感水凝胶的应用范围.     

光致变形型高分子材料

光致变形型高分子材料以光为激发源,在没有机械接触的情况下,能够快速改变尺寸和形状。本文介绍了光致变形的高分子凝胶、无定形高分子、液晶弹性体和光致形状记忆高分子材料,并对各种材料的光致变形机理进行解释。无定形高分子的光致变形较小,目前研究重点是具有各向异性的液晶弹性体。文中着重介绍了具有偶氮苯介晶基元的液晶弹性体的光致变形研究,在光照下这类材料只要有1%的偶氮苯介晶基元发生顺反异构,就会发生光致变形。     

非水介质中明胶水凝胶电场驱动行为的研究

研究了明胶水凝胶在绝缘硅油中的电场响应行为。结果表明,在硅油中,明胶水凝胶在外加高压直流电场作用下可发生运动,其运动由转动和平动两部分组成。存在一个运动所需的最小阈值电场,只有外加电场在此阈值以上时,才可观察到水凝胶明显的运动。水凝胶的运动速度随外加电场的增大而增大,其运动可通过外加电场的大小来调控。由硅油很稳定且在电场中会电解,因此避免了传统电场驱动水凝胶在水介质中响应时不可避免的电解缺点,为建立一种新的电响应凝毅然驱动方式提供了可能。     

Magnetic field intensity effect on plane electric capacitor characteristics and viscoelasticity of magnetorheological elastomer

Magnetorheological (MR) elastomer was prepared using silicone rubber and soft magnetic carbonyl iron microspheres, and then examined as dielectric materials for manufacturing electric capacitors. As a specific element, capacity of the capacitors located in a magnetic field was found to be sensitive to both the MR suspension proportion to the silicone rubber and the intensity of the applied magnetic field. Viscoelastic characteristics of the MR elastomer, represented by storage modulus and creep behavior, were also studied.     

Effect of temperature on the rupture behavior of highly stretchable acrylic elastomer

Dielectric elastomer has been recently explored extensively to make diverse soft actuators and energy harvesting devices. The lack of study on the rupture behavior under the influence of temperature hinders further applications where heat generation and accumulation are unavoidable. In this paper, an experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effect of temperature on the rupture behavior of acrylic dielectric elastomer. By using VHB 4910 films with and without an initial crack, the fracture energy at different temperature and stretch rate is measured by pure shear test. The storage modulus and phase angle have been investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The images of defects and rupture surface are provided by scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is found that the stretch at rupture is insensitive to the temperature for both pristine and precut samples. In addition, the maximum nominal stress and fracture energy linearly decrease with environmental temperature, especially at high stretch rate. Furthermore, we measure the stretch at rupture for rectangular strips with a single edge-notch under uniaxial tension and compare them with the theoretical prediction using nonlinear fracture mechanics based on the measured fracture energy. The results obtained in this paper will give a reference to the engineering design and applications of dielectric elastomer, especially for those working at different temperatures.     

Measuring true electromechanical strain of electroactive thermoplastic elastomer gels using synchrotron SAXS

The true electric actuation thickness strain of poly (styrene‐b‐ethylbutylene‐b‐styrene) (SEBS) gel was measured using an in situ synchrotron SAXS. The thermoplastic elastomer SEBS gel was microphase‐separated to form a disordered styrene micelle nanostructure in an oil‐swollen ethylbutylene matrix. The SEBS gel showed reversible cyclic load–unload compression behavior without permanent residual strain. The electromechanical strain of the SEBS gel with carbon paste electrodes could be evaluated by means of a nanostructure dimensional change traced by using the in situ synchrotron SAXS during actuation. The strain measured with SAXS was compared with the strain measured using conventional laser displacement sensor systems. The optical laser sensor method was likely to overestimate the thickness strain due to the bending movement of the dielectric elastomer. To our knowledge, the thickness strain value measured by the synchrotron SAXS is the closest to the true strain ever measured in the field of dielectric elastomer studies, because the nanostructure dimensional change depends on the thickness dimension change, not on the translational movement like the bending motion. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Electrohydrodynamic instability in a binary mixture of cyanobiphenyls in a d.c. field

Electrohydrodynamic instability in a homeotropically oriented liquid crystal mixture, with positive dielectric anisotropy, has been studied under a d.c. electric field. Various studies on textures at different voltage were also made. The existence of charge injection, charge diffusion and convective flow of liquid in the liquid crystal cells was found. The effect of viscosity, dielectric anisotropy and other physical parameters on electric current through the sample cells, is discussed. A small change in phase transition temperature on application of an electric field was found in the thin cell of the sample material.     

Pre-electrohydrodynamic relaxation phenomenon in nematic liquid crystals

Study of electrohydrodynamic instabilities in thicker nematic liquid crystal samples (800–1200 μm) of MBBA is reported. An initial rise in the intensity of transmitted light immediately after the application of an electric field has been found to precede the attenuation of the transmitted beam due to the gradual development of hydrodynamic instability in the sample. The dependence of the relative dominance of the two relaxation phenomenon on the applied electric field intensity has been studied.     

Preparation and dielectric properties of highly preferred-(100) orientation (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O<Subscript>3</Subscript> antiferroelectric thick films by sol–gel processing

Pb_0.97La_0.02Zr_0.95Ti_0.05O₃ (PLZT) antiferroelectric thick films of highly preferred-(100) orientation with different thickness were successfully deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(100) substrates depending on the sol–gel process technique. The effects of the PLZT thick films in the preparation and electric properties are investigated. The films show polycrystalline perovskite structure with a (100) preferred orientation by X-ray diffractometer analyses. The antiferroelectric nature of the thick films is demonstrated by P (polarization)–E (electric field). The temperature dependence of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss displays the similar behavior in both cases at 100 kHz while the values of polarization characteristic are decreased with the increase of the film thickness. The phase switching current are studied as a function of a gradually change dc electric field and the voltage dependent current density of the most highly (100)-oriented PLZT film is 1.49 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm² over electric field range from 0 to ±261 kV/cm. The film at 2,498 nm exhibits excellent dielectric properties and highly preferred-(100) orientation.     

Biologically inspired path-controlled linear locomotion of polymer gel in air

A novel approach based on electrohydrodynamic behavior of a dielectric liquid pattern in electric field was developed to fabricate a poly(vinyl alcohol)/dimethyl sulfoxide (PVA/DMSO) gel electromechanical system. Driving experiments indicate that this system could be well-operated in air by using a direct current (DC) electric field, and the gel exhibits a long-range path-controlled snaillike or snakelike motion with a fast crawling speed of 14.4 mm/s. Some factors, such as the applied electric field and the mass of the gel on the average crawling speed of the gel at linear path and curvilinear path, are investigated. Furthermore, a transition between snaillike gaits and snakelike gaits of the gel is also further studied in this system. The mechanism analysis suggests that this path-controlled motion of the gel arises from the drag of the spatial varied shear force F originated from the electrohydrodynamic flow of the solvent in and out of the gel.     

Infrared intensities of lattice vibrations in molecular crystals

From the dynamic multipoles model an expression is derived for the dipole moment derivative governing the intensity of infrared absorption by lattice modes in molecular crystals. The result depends on non-local susceptibilities which take proper account of the local electric field in a way consistent with dielectric theory. It is shown that the non-local rsponse follows naturally from microscopic lattice dynamical theory. It arises from dipolar coupling and is intimately connected with the delocalized exciton states produced by the same mechanism. Intensities calculated for the iodine crystal are inproved by including the local field, but a point quadrupole field proves too anisotropic to yield the measured intensity ratio. The treatment shows that infrared intensities can be used to obtain unique effective molecular polarizabilities.     

Dynamic light scattering of an ionic SDS micellar solution under an AC electric field

The phase separation behavior of near-critical ionic sodium-dodecyl-sulfate (SDS) micellar solution under a sinusoidal electric field was investigated by phase-contrast optical microscopy and by the small-angle dynamic light scattering method. The sinusoidal electric field significantly deformed the concentration domains and shifted the phase separation temperature. The autocorrelation function under a sinusoidal electric field was measured in the vicinity of a phase separation temperature range of 0.10 K < T_p – T < 0.97 K, where T_p – T is the temperature distance from the phase separation temperature in quiescent state T_p. The correlation function with an oscillatory part in the longer correlation time region was observed. The occurrence of the oscillatory mode, which depended on both the applied field frequency and the ambient temperature, indicates deformation of concentration fluctuation domains by dynamical coupling between the phase separation and the applied sinusoidal electric field. Received: 9 June 2000 Accepted: 31 August 2000