Actuation of Poly(vinyl alcohol) Gel by Electric Field

Abstract

Non-ionic polymer gel of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was actuated in air by applying an electric field, flapping ac tion was demonstrated, revealing that a non-ionic polymer gel can be a possible candidate as an electroactive actuator. By applying an electric field to the non-ionic PVA gel it was found to actuate in air very efficiently without accompanying swelling-and-deswelling processes and without generating heat and gases as the products of electrochemical reactions. The magnitude of the action was proportional to the square of the applied electric field. The action was considered to result from the orientation ot the solvent molecule in the gel that induced the orientation of the gel network, leading to the shape change and the action of the gel The gel investigated showed an action in magnitude of 8% of the gel thickness that reaches several hundred times larger than con ventional electrostriction materials The action was completed within a couple hundred msec The action rate is several thousand times faster than those reported on the same type gel actuators of the same dimension