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Nematic elastomers with aligned carbon nanotubes: new electromechanical actuators

S. Courty·J. Mine·A. R. Tajbakhsh·E. M. Terentjev
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Abstract

We demonstrate, for the first time, the large electromechanical response in nematic liquid crystalline elastomers filled with a very low (~0.01%) concentration of carbon nanotubes, aligned along the nematic director at preparation. The nanotubes create a very large effective dielectric anisotropy of the composite. Their local field-induced torque is transmitted to the rubber-elastic network and is registered as the exerted uniaxial stress of order ~1kPa in response to a constant field of order ~1MV/m. We investigate the dependence of the effect on field strength, nanotube concentration and reproducibility under multiple field-on and -off cycles. The results indicate the potential of the nanotube-nematic elastomer composites as electrically driven actuators.

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S. Courty, J. Mine, A. R. Tajbakhsh, E. M. Terentjev. 2003-09-09. Nematic elastomers with aligned carbon nanotubes: new electromechanical actuators. https://doi.org/10.1209/epl%2Fi2003-00277-9

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