Based on the achieved parameters (diameter of HD -from TEM
and AFM observation- and inter distance between HD and SD-from
SAXS measurements) on the 3 pure segmented PUs, we calculated
the inner and total deformations, either in 1D e considering only Z
component, see Equation (13) or in 3D considering (X,Y, Z) components.
The values are presented in Table 3. For each PU, the
experimental value, Sexp, measured using a laser interferometer
setup (E0 ¼ 1(V/mm)), is given for comparison.
Stheo results from our calculation based on the facts that i) the
HD does not contribute to the deformation, ii) for a long chain of
particles only the Sinner contribution should be taken into account
(and not Souter) and iii) because only Sinner is taken into account, it
has to be weighted by the fraction of HD to obtain Stheo. However,
this model is suffering from the lack of knowledge on the intrinsic
SD and HD properties, but we can assume that they have to be the
same for the three PU. So, by dividing Stheo by K the deformation of
each PU is divided by a constant. Thus, Stheo/K provides information
solely due to the effect of “a/D”. In Fig 4, it can be seen that PU75 has
the a/D ratio the closest to the optimal around 0.62, allowing the
maximal deformation according to our model. This shows the
benefice of our model in the comprehension of the polymer electrostriction.
However, the experimental value of PU60 is relatively