A large bending deformation of monolayer polyurethane films was observed when a high electric field was applied to the film. Using this phenomenon, bending actuators were prepared and their electromechanical properties were investigated. When the electric field of 10 MV/m was applied to the film, the deformation curvature, IhR, reached 36 m-l within about 3 seconds and the generated force was about the same as the film weight.
The degree of the bending deformation was expressed as a combination of the linear term and the square term of the applied electric field. Therefore, it was shown that the bending deformation is caused by bending piezoelectricity (inverse effect) and bending electrostriction.
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