Piezoelectricity of chiral polymeric fibers

\We studied a method for electrically controlling the bending of a poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) fiber. First, we simply evaluated the piezoelectric characteristics of PLLA fibers, which were produced under various conditions, to study bending motion using the measurement system developed here. As a result, a PLLA fiber (drawn seven times, 150 mu m diameter) with a molecular weight of 20,000 showed the largest piezoelectric modulus of 25 pC/N. Then, we found that a PLLA fiber bent with the application of an electric field to the fiber. That is, the bending motion of the PLLA fiber could be controlled. Also, it was demonstrated that the fabrication of an on/off switching system was possible using the bending motion jointly with a logic circuit.