OBJECTIVES To compare (i) the in vivo release of fluoride from fluoridated elastomers to the in vitro release, and (ii) the residual fluoride content of the elastomers after 1 week in the mouth with and without fluoride toothpaste and mouthrinse. DESIGN A prospective, longitudinal, cross-over study. SUBJECTS AND METHOD Six subjects were recruited by poster to take part in the study. Each su...

Swellable elastomers are used to seal flow channels in oilfield operations. After sealing, the elastomers are constrained triaxially, and a contact load builds up between the elastomers and surrounding rigid materials. For these applications, the ability to predict the evolution of the contact load is important. This work introduces an experimental setup to measure the contact load as a functio...

Soft, solvent-free poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomers are fabricated by a one-step process via crosslinking bottlebrush polymers. The bottlebrush architecture prevents the formation of entanglements, resulting in elastomers with precisely controllable low moduli from 1 to 100 kPa, below the lower limit of traditional elastomers; moreover, the solvent-free nature enables their negligible adhesive...

We study the low-frequency, long-wavelength dynamics of soft and semi-soft nematic elastomers using two different but related dynamic theories. Our first formulation describes the pure hydrodynamic behavior of nematic elastomers in which the nematic director has relaxed to its equilibrium value in the presence of strain. We find that the sound-modes structure for soft elastomers is identical to...

Electromechanical coupling in electroactive polymers (EAPs) has been widely applied for actuation and is also being increasingly investigated for sensing chemical and mechanical stimuli. EAPs are a unique class of materials, with low-moduli high-strain capabilities and the ability to conform to surfaces of different shapes. These features make them attractive for applications such as wearable s...

We demonstrate, for the first time, the large electromechanical response in ne-matic liquid crystalline elastomers filled with a very low (∼ 0.01%) concentration of carbon nanotubes, aligned along the nematic director at preparation. The nan-otubes create a very large effective dielectric anisotropy of the composite. Their local field-induced torque is transmitted to the rubber-elastic network ...

Octopus show great adhesion capabilities thanks to their suckers covering their ventral side of their arms. Starting from biological investigation, we identified preliminary specifications for the design of innovative artificial suction cups, which could be used in the field of soft robotics. The main features of the biological sucker are maintained as leading criteria for the choice of the act...

This paper reports the design, fabrication, and testing of a soft dielectric elastomer power generator with a volume of less than 1 cm. The generator is well suited to harvest energy from ambient and from human body motion as it can harvest from low frequency (sub-Hz) motions, and is compact and lightweight. Dielectric elastomers are highly stretchable variable capacitors. Electrical energy is ...

Polymer latexes are being increasingly used in the construction industry as modifiers, especially in hydraulic cement concrete and mortar. Figure 1 presents polymeric latexes used as cement modifiers. Among the different presentations of polymeric latexes, elastomers are the most widely used (Ohama, 1995). In practice, there are two basic elastomers applicable to cement mixes and these are natu...