Affiliation:
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Abstract
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gels have recently been found to exhibit mechanoelectrical transduction or sensing capabilities under compressive loading applications. This phenomenon is not wholly understood but has been characterized as an adsorption-like phenomena under varying amounts and types of plasticizers. A different polymer lattice structure has also been tested, thermoplastic polyurethane, which showed similar sensing characteristics. This study examines mechanical and electrical properties of these gel sensors and proposes a mathematical framework of the underlying mechanisms of mechanoelectrical transduction. COMSOL Multiphysics is used to show solid mechanics characteristics, electrostatic properties, and transport of interstitial plasticizer under compressive loading applications. The solid mechanics takes a continuum mechanics approach and includes a highly compressive Storakers material model for compressive loading applications. The electrostatics and transport properties include charge conservation and a Langmuir adsorption migration model with variable diffusion properties based on plasticizer properties. Results show both plasticizer concentration gradient as well as expected voltage response under varying amounts and types of plasticizers. Experimental work is also completed to show agreeance with the modeling results.
Funder
Savannah River National Laboratory
National Science Foundation
Subject
Polymers and Plastics,General Chemistry
Reference16 articles.
1. Artificial muscles for wearable assistance and rehabilitation;Dong;Front. Inf. Technol. Electron. Eng.,2018
2. Lightweight, Soft Variable Stiffness Gel Spats for Walking Assistance;Maeda;Int. J. Adv. Robot. Syst.,2015
3. Jafari, A., and Ebrahimi, N. (2021). Soft Robotics in Rehabilitation, Academic Press.
4. Electric-Field-Induced Local Layer Structure in Plasticized PVC Actuator;Xia;J. Phys. Chem. B,2010
5. Electrical properties and electromechanical modeling of plasticized PVC gel actuators;Asaka;Sens. Actuators B Chem.,2018