Publication 25-CNA-018

Nonlocal Dipolar Self-Interactions Drive Polymer Chain Collapse in Electric Fields

Pratik Khandagale
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
pkhandag@alumni.cmu.edu

Gal deBotton
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Ben-Gurion University

Timothy Breitzman
Air Force Research Laboratory
timothy.breitzman.1@us.af.mil

Carmel Majidi
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Kaushik Dayal
Center for Nonlinear Analysis
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Kaushik.Dayal@cmu.edu

Abstract: We report that a dielectric polymer chain, constrained at both ends, sharply collapses when exposed to a high electric field. The chain collapse is driven by nonlocal dipolar interactions and anisotropic polarization of monomers, a characteristic of real polymers that prior theories were unable to incorporate. Once collapsed, a large number of chain monomers accumulate at the center location between the chain ends, locally increasing the electric field and polarization by orders of magnitude. The chain collapse is sensitive to the orientation of the applied electric field and chain stretch. Our findings not only offer new ways for rapid actuation and sensing but also provide a pathway to discover the critical physics behind instabilities and electrical breakdown in dielectric polymers.

Get the paper in its entirety as  25-CNA-018.pdf

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