A curved resonant flexoelectric actuator

Flexoelectricity is an electro-mechanical coupling effect that exists in all dielectrics and has the potential to replace piezoelectric actuating on the microscale. In this letter, a curved flexoelectric actuator with non-polarized polyvinylidene fluoride is presented and shown to exhibit good electro-mechanical properties. This provides experimental support for a body of theoretical research into converse flexoelectricity in polymeric materials. In addition, this work demonstrates the feasibility of lead-free microscale actuating without piezoelectricity.