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27Complex Systems of Charged Particles and their Interactions with Electromagnetic Radiation 2016
FROM COMPLEX PLASMA TO FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
E. Allahyarov*,1 and H. Löwen1
*TheoreticalDepartment, OIVTRAN, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: exa54@case.edu 1Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
Recent advances in Complex Plasma research and technologies such as the formation of ordered structures by charged and dipolar dust particles in external fields, the improving of the tribology characteristics of the atmospheric plasma treated elastomers, the increasing of the biocompatibility of plasma-polymerise treated surfaces with biological tissues are fundamentally shaping the role played by Complex Plasma in contemporary science. From serving as a model system for real-time analyses of fundamental physical processes such as nucleation, a liquidsolid transition, a wave propagation and etc, Complex Plasma now enters into edge-cutting technologies from space engineering to biomedical applications. We propose another potentially hot application for Complex Plasma in the field of Functional Materials Design and Production. Functional Materials are composite systems which change their shape, elasticity, morphology and actuation properties under applied fields. These materials have huge potential for being developed into artificial muscles, high-energy storage materials, soft actuators, and new cancer-fighting thermo-drugs. Our recent results on the response of polymer-particle blend composites [1] and charged multilayers [2] to external fields showed that the morphology of the composite and the structure of the particle distribution are essential factors for tuning functional material properties. Both these factors can be controlled by the methods and knowledge accumulated in the Complex Plasma Science.
In this presentation we theoretically analyze the controlled actuation of electroactive polymer composites with embedded high dielectric nanoparticles. Our simulation results indicate that a negative electrostriction effect exists in simple cubic (SC) regular lattice nanocomposites. For inclusions occupying the sites of other lattice structures such as body-centered (BCC) or face-centered cubic crystals (FCC), the composite elongates along the field direction. The stability of the elongation against the imperfectness of the lattice site positions and the distortion ratio of the initial structures are examined. An example of such behavior is shown in Figure 1. Using different actuation responses of lattice and random nanocomposites we propose to build artificial metastructures which can bend, twist, or get locomotive thrust under applied fields. In Figure 2 a bending-type metastructure is shown.
E. Allahyarov acknowledges the support from RNF through the Project No. 14-50-00124.
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References
[1] Allahyarov, E., Löwen, H., Zhu, L., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2015, 17, 32479
[2] Allahyarov, E., Zhu. L., Löwen, H., J. Appl. Phys., 2015, 117, 034504
