Giant electrostrictive response of polymers

Abstract

A new class of electroacoustic materials has been discovered at the Polymer Electroprocessing Laboratory, Rutgers University, based on the enormous electrostrictive response available in certain classes of polymeric materials. Further, many of the properties of these materials, including the dielectric constant and elastic modulus, can be tailored for specific end‐use applications. The new material is ‘‘created’’ by applying a very large (≳10 MV/m), dc bias electric field using a superimposed ac driving signal to produce the required acoustic response. The measured thickness response dT, which is electrostrictive in nature, is proportional to the slope of the strain versus the applied electric field curve and is, therefore, proportional to the applied electric field up to saturation. Extremely high dT values (dT≳10 A/V) can be accessed at high enough dc bias fields (≳20 MV/m).