Electrified Materials - Electroelastic Polymers

In Girl in the Glass, the Clypeate are led to a fifteen-foot-tall canvas featuring Adolf Hitler wearing Napoleonic military garb, wielding a sword in one hand and cupping a cantaloupe-sized Earth with the other.

At first, nothing happened. A confused Bruce was ready to request further guidance when the intent became obvious. They watched Adolf’s smug grin droop and split as canvas fibers peeled apart like curtains, retreating towards the frame’s edge until a sizable gap in the painting revealed a flight of stairs. The guards waved them forward, and the four visitors descended several roughly hewn steps while the painting reassembled behind them, the variably colored strands refilling the frame.

While this seems a far-fetched idea, this technical achievement is now possible given the reality of electroactive polymers (EAPs). EAPs show promise in being made into materials that could function as a paint canvas, enabling artists to potentially create interactive and dynamic artworks. 

Electroactive polymers are synthetic materials that respond to electric current, exhibiting a change in their size, shape, or other properties when an electric field is applied. This remarkable characteristic makes them highly promising for a wide array of applications, including artificial muscles, sensors, actuators, and smart robotics. 

There are different types of EAPs. Electronic EAPs deform due to electrostatic forces, requiring high voltages but consuming very little electrical power, and show promise in robotics. Ionic EAPs are triggered by the displacement of ions within a polymer structure and may be used to create artificial muscles. In summary, the ability of these synthetic materials to respond to electric current holds promise in the development of innovative technologies with many practical applications.

Photo 1/3: electrical EAP prior to electric charge

Photo 2/3: electrical EAP responding to current

Photo 3/3: electrical EAP transformed by current

Ionic EAP responds to applied current