Electrical Response and Mechanical Behavior of Plasticized PVC Actuators

Abstract

By changing gel and electrode shape, many different actuators could be invented. In the previous papers, we have reported that Maxwell stress generated in the PVC gels was expected as the results of polarization response of charges, and it mainly took place between the gel and the anode due to the accumulated negative charges on surface of the PVC gel near anode. Due to the existence of the Maxwell force, the PVC gel will be deformed asymmetrically and resulted in creep deformation along the anode. In this paper, we conducted some mechanical experiments and investigated the modulus of PVC gels with varied contents of plasticizer DBA. It was found that PVC gels were separated to two layers obviously after applied an electrical field. Near the anode, the layer (L1) was thinner and softer than other layer (L2) due to the transfer of plasticizer to the anode. This phenomenon was also confirmed by a fluorescence microscope. The displacement of gel in both sides near electrodes was different, and then a bending force was generated due to the force of electrical field. On the other hand, the recovery time of the deformed gel depended on the contents of plasticizer. The longer recovery time was observed for the lower content of plasticizer. The Young’s modulus of PVC gels in tensile becomes small after applied an electrical field and the gels became to be deformed easily.