Experimental Studies of Electro-Mechanical Transduction in Thin-Film Polyurethane.
Abstract
This report describes the results of an experimental investigation on the electromechanical response of a polyurethane elastomer (Dow 2103-80AE). The results show that the Maxwell stress contribution to the strain response can be significant at temperatures higher than the glass transition temperature. On the other hand, the material exhibits a very high electrostrictive coefficient Q, about two orders of magnitude higher than that of PVDF. The experimental results reveal that in a polymeric material, the chain segment motions can be divided into those related to the polarization response and those related to the mechanical response and the overlap region between the two yields the electromechanical response of the material. Experimental evidence indicates that the average energy barrier for the mechanical related segment motions is higher than that of non-mechanical related segment motions. To identify the molecular origins of these segment motions, FTIR and DSC were carried out at room temperature and above. ESCA and uniform distribution of the soft segments and hard segments along the sample thickness direction and it was observed that depending on the surface conditions, the ratio between the two in the surface region can be different from the bulk, which may be responsible for the enhanced electromechanical response in thin film samples. A unique apparatus is nearly completed and will make reliable and easy the measurement of the field induced strain of soft and thin polymeric materials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 25, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA310970
Entities
People
- Qiming Zhang
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University