  The usual approach to the development of new nonlinear dielectric materials
focuses on the search for materials in which the components possess an
inherently large nonlinear dielectric response. In contrast, based on
thermodynamics, we have presented a first-principles approach to obtain the
electrostriction-induced effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility for the
electrorheological (ER) fluids in which the components have inherent linear,
rather than nonlinear, responses. In detail, this kind of nonlinear
susceptibility is in general of about the same order of magnitude as the
compressibility of the linear ER fluid at constant pressure. Moreover, our
approach has been demonstrated in excellent agreement with a different
statistical method. Thus, such linear ER fluids can serve as a new nonlinear
dielectric material.
