Creeping and Novel Huge Bending of Plasticized PVC

Abstract

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.