Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.111, No.9, 4273-4280, 1999
Electrostriction in field-structured composites: Basis for a fast artificial muscle?
The electrostriction of composites consisting of dielectric particles embedded in a gel or elastomer is discussed. It is shown that when these particles are organized by a uniaxial field before gelation, the resulting field-structured composites are expected to exhibit enhanced electrostriction in a uniform field applied along the same axis as the structuring field. The associated stresses might be large enough to form the basis of a polymer-based fast artificial muscle.