Polyurethane‐elastomer‐actuator

AbstractPolyurethane elastomers were investigated as electrically active materials for actuators. Components in hard segment and soft segment in the elastomers were varied. The elastomers with excellent electrostrictive properties were limited to those which had soft segments of polyesters and polylactones. It turned out, that the elastomers, whose soft segments are polyethers are electrically inert under the experimental conditions. The chemical structure of the hard segment seems not to influence to the electrostrictive property. The charging and discharging process was investigated. The charging process was found to proceed simultaneously with the contracting process caused by the electric field, suggesting that the orientation of the soft segment in the elastomer plays critical rolls in the electrostrictive action. In the elastomer, which has a soft polyether segment and was inactive to the electric field, could be actuated very efficiently when the elastomer was swollen with dimethyl sulfoxide. We conclude that the polyurethane elastomer, whose soft segment has chemical bonds with a relatively large dipole moment, can be actuated by the electric field application, and that even the elastomer, whose soft segment is inactive, could be actuated in the presence of a solvent with a large dipole moment. Thus, the concept found with the gel, could be applied to an elastomer, the soft segment of which plays partly the roll of the solvent in the gel.