Electroactive polymers

Electroactive polymers, or EAPs, are polymers that exhibit a change in size or shape when stimulated by an electric field. The most common applications of this type of material are in actuators and sensors. A typical characteristic property of an EAP is that they will undergo a large amount of deformation while sustaining large forces.

The majority of historic actuators are made of ceramic piezoelectric materials. While these materials are able to withstand large forces, they commonly will only deform a fraction of a percent. In the late 1990s, it has been demonstrated that some EAPs can exhibit up to a 380% strain, which is much more than any ceramic actuator. One of the most common applications for EAPs is in the field of robotics in the development of artificial muscles; thus, an electroactive polymer is often referred to as an artificial muscle.

The field of EAPs emerged back in 1880, when Wilhelm Röntgen designed an experiment in which he tested the effect of an electrostatic field on the mechanical properties of a stripe of natural rubber The rubber stripe was fixed at one end and was attached to a mass at the other. Electric charges were then sprayed onto the rubber and it was observed that the length changed by several centimeters. M.P. Sacerdote followed up on Roentgen's experiment by formulating a theory on strain response to an applied electric field in 1899. It wasn't until 1925 that the first piezoelectric polymer was discovered (Electret). Electret was formed by combining carnauba wax, rosin and beeswax, and then cooling the solution while it is subject to an applied DC electrical bias. The mixture would then solidify into a polymeric material that exhibited a piezoelectric effect.

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