electroactiveadj.
/ᵻˌlɛktrəʊˈaktɪv/, U.S. /əˌlɛktroʊˈæktɪv/, /iˌlɛktroʊˈæktɪv/ Science.
Electrically active or responsive; (of a polymer) that changes shape when an electric field is applied.
ΚΠ
1901 U.S. Patent 685,278 1/1 The cell of the battery is composed of electro-active material..such as zinc, lead, and carbon.
1934 G. L. Freeman Introd. Physiol. Psychol. xviii. 312 He thinks that we are dealing with a fixed number of lines of electric force, attached to a central nucleus, and that these force lines can be distributed to a considerable number of outlying neurones (themselves electro-active).
1973 Analytica Chimica Acta 65 386 Several procedures for the preparation of electroactive PVC membranes have been employed.
1988 N. Baker Mezzanine xi. 90 The 1890s ads for patent medicines or electroactive copper wrist bracelets.
2002 Nature 19 Sept. p. ix Electroactive polymers that can change shape when subjected to an external electric field have a variety of potential applications as actuators—in drug delivery and as artificial muscles for instance.
Derivatives
eˌlectroacˈtivity n. electrical activity or responsiveness.
ΚΠ
1936 Q. Rev. Biol. 11 Index 503/2 Wurmser, R., Electroactivity in Cellular Chemistry, 114.
1941 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 51 763 Four metals..are in combination and until they are more perfectly united to resist the passage of electrons there will continue to be some electroactivity about them.
1996 Economist 20 July 90/3 Francis Crick, and a colleague, Christopher Koch, have suggested that it is linked with patches of brain electro-activity in the 35–75 hertz range.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1901