Piyanoot Hiamtup

Hysteresis and strain hardening in the creep response of a polyaniline ER fluid.

The electrorheological creep response of PANI/silicone oil suspensions near the yield point is investigated using parallel plate rheometry. Controlled-stress, thixotropic loop experiments exhibit a pronounced hysteresis, from which we determined the static yield stress (sigma(y(static))), as the stress where onset of flow occurs on the upward part of the loop, and a dynamic yield stress (sigma(y(dynamic))), defined as the stress at which flow ceases on the downward part of the loop. The magnitude of the hysteresis, as characterized by the area under the loop, increases substantially with applied field strength and particle concentration, but decreases with increase of temperature. Consistent with literature data, the creep compliance shows an evolution from viscoelastic to viscoplastic to viscous flow behavior as the applied stress increases through the yield point. In the viscoplastic regime, the apparent equilibrium compliance, J(e)(app), shows a discrete pre-yield transition to higher values, indicating a seemingly-enhanced ductility as the applied stress nears the yield point. Measurement of the static yield stress following these creep experiments suggests that the origin of this transition is a pronounced strain-hardening effect. We conclude that strain-hardening contributes to the hysteresis observed in the thixotropic loop test.

Soft and flexible actuator based on electromechanical response of polyaniline particles embedded in cross-linked poly(dimethyl siloxane) networks

Electrorheological characteristics of poly (dimethyl siloxane)(PDMS) networks containing camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) doped-polyaniline (PANI) particles were investigated. Samples were prepared by dispersing fine polyaniline particles into cross-linked PDMS. Rheological properties of the PANI/PDMS blends were studied in the oscillatory shear mode in order to study the effects of electric field strength, particle concentration, and operating temperature on their electromechanical responses. The electrostriction of the blends were observed as a result of an attractive force among polarized particles embedded in the network. The sensitivity values of blends are defined as the storage moduli at any applied electric field subtracted by those values at zero electric field, and divided by theb moduli at zero field. They were found to increase about 10-50% when electric field strength was increased from 0 to 2 kV/mm. The storage and loss moduli increased with particle concentration and temperature but they decreased with crosslink density of the matrices.