https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050726
Piezoelectricity of chiral nematic elastomers
Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road,
Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
Received:
7
September
1998
Revised:
19
October
1998
Published online: 15 April 1999
A molecular model of freely jointed chains of chiral monomers is developed to describe the piezoelectric effect in chiral nematic elastomers. The model, an extension of the neo-classical theory of nematic polymer networks, takes into account a chiral biasing of molecular alignment under shear which leads to induced polarisation if the monomers contain a transverse dipole moment. The resulting theory is fully non-linear in elastic deformations, in the spirit of ordinary rubber elasticity. The expansion to the highest order in small strains gives the three linear piezoelectric coefficients predicted by phenomenological models.
PACS: 61.30.-v – Liquid crystals / 61.41.+e – Polymers, elastomers, and plastics / 77.65.-j – Piezoelectricity and electrostriction
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1999
