Related papers: Soft materials for linear electromechanical energy…
Soft membranes are commonly employed in shape-morphing applications, where the material is programmed to achieve a target shape upon activation by an external trigger, and as coating layers that alter the surface characteristics of bulk…
When polarized electrons traverse a region where the laser light is focused their polarization varies even if their energy and direction of motion are not changed. This effect is due to interference of the incoming electron wave and an…
Review of techniques for characterizing piezoelectric/electrostrictive material for transducer applications.
Physical mechanisms of the interaction of cold plasmas with organic surfaces are discussed. Trapping of plasma ions by the CH2 groups of polymer surfaces resulting in their electrical charging is treated. Polyethylene surfaces were exposed…
We analyze experimentally the shape of a long elastic filament rotating in a viscous liquid. We identify a continuous but sharp transition from a straight to an helical shape, resulting from the competition between viscous stresses and…
The flexoelectric conversion of mechanical to electrical energy in nematic liquid crystals is investigated using continuum theory. Since the electrical energy produced cannot exceed the mechanical energy supplied, and vice-versa, upper…
Symmetry breaking at surfaces and interfaces and the capability to support large strain gradients in nanoscale systems enable new forms of electromechanical coupling. Here we introduce the concept of quantum flexoelectricity, a phenomenon…
Piezoelectrics are materials that linearly deform in response to an applied electric field. As a fundamental prerequisite, piezoelectric material must possess a non centrosymmetric crystal structure. For more than a century, this remains…
In this paper we study the surface effects that bulk flexoelectric models in finite samples exhibit. We first show that when the body is infinite, flexoelectric materials do not exhibit electromechanical response under homogeneous loading.…
Electromechanical coupling is ubiquitous in biological systems with examples ranging from simple piezoelectricity in calcified and connective tissues to voltage-gated ion channels, energy storage in mitochondria, and electromechanical…
Charged soft-matter systems--such as colloidal dispersions and charged polymers--are dominated by attractive forces between constituent like-charged particles when neutralizing counterions of high charge valency are introduced. Such…
Photomechanical liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are responsive polymers that can convert light directly into mechanical deformation. This unique feature makes these materials an attractive candidate for soft actuators capable of remote and…
Elastohydrodynamic lubrication, or simply soft lubrication, refers to the motion of deformable objects near a boundary lubricated by a fluid, and is one of the key physical mechanisms to minimise friction and wear in natural and engineered…
Flexocoupling impact on the size effects of the spontaneous polarization, effective piezo-response, elastic strain and compliance, carrier concentration and piezo-conductance have been calculated in thin films of ferroelectric…
In the realm of modern materials science and advanced electronics, ferroelectric materials have emerged as a subject of great intrigue and significance, chiefly due to their remarkable property of reversible spontaneous polarization. This…
This paper presents electrostriction from the phenomenological perspective, and gives details on two mechanical effects arising from laser-matter interaction. Electrostriction is the tendency of materials to compress in the presence of a…
Lubrication flows appear in many applications in engineering, biophysics, and in nature. Separation of surfaces and minimisation of friction and wear is achieved when the lubrication fluid builds up a lift force. In this paper we analyse…
The interaction of flexible polymers with fluid flows leads to a number of intriguing phenomena observed in laboratory experiments, namely drag reduction, elastic turbulence and heat transport modification in natural convection, and is one…
We study the sense in which the continuum limit of a broad class of discrete materials with periodic structures can be viewed as a nonlinear elastic material. While we are not the first to consider this question, our treatment is more…
The spatial and temporal control of material properties at a distance has yielded many unique innovations including photo-patterning, 3D-printing, and architected material design. To date, most of these innovations have relied on light,…