Uniaxial stretching and swelling are considered as two limiting cases of deformations of elastomers. Under both conditions, the molecular dynamics is changed with respect to the behavior that describes the undisturbed, equilibrium elastomer. Particularly the spectrum of segmental motions, which reveals itself in the frequency-dependence of the longitudinal NMR relaxation time, is discussed in t...

In the past decade, dielectric elastomers have emerged as promising multifunctional smart energy-transduction materials in several actuation, sensing, and electric power generation applications. As actuators, dielectric elastomers have demonstrated strains (over 300%) and specific energy density (over 3.4 J/g) larger than that observed in any other field-activated smart material. In generator m...

Dynamic mechanical properties including temperature effect, stress softening, and Payne effect are studied on the elastomer composites filled with soy protein or carbon black. The comparison of protein composite with well-known carbon black composites provides further insight into the protein composites. The elastomers filled with soy protein aggregates give substantial reinforcement effect whe...

BACKGROUND There have been numerous researches on elastomeric ligatures, but clinical conditions in different stages of treatment are not exactly similar to laboratory conditions. The aim of this in vitro study was to simulate clinical conditions and evaluate the effect of three stretching patterns on the amount of force, tensile strength (TS) and extension to TS of the elastomers during 8 week...

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 1 wileyonlinelibrary.com monitoring of physiological signals, electronic skin for data entry, and skinmounted sensors for joint proprioception and motion capture.[3–7] The ability for these electronics to bend, twist, and stretch is accomplished by using soft elastomers as a carrier medium for deterministically patterned metal wiring,[8] percola...

By employing recent results (Lopez-Pamies, O., 2014, “Elastic Dielectric Composites: Theory and Application to Particle-Filled Ideal Dielectrics,” J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 64, p. 6182 and Spinelli, S. A., Lefèvre, V., and Lopez-Pamies, O., “Dielectric Elastomer Composites: A General Closed-Form Solution in the Small-Deformation Limit,” J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 83, pp. 263–284.) on the homogenizatio...

A fibre actuator that generates a large strain with high specific power represents a promising strategy to develop novel wearable devices and robotics. We propose a new coiled-fibre actuator based on highly drawn, hard linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) fibres. Driven by resistance heating, the actuator can be operated at temperatures as low as 60 °C and uses only 20% of the power consumed...