Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Science. 2022 Jul 8;377(6602):228-232. doi: 10.1126/science.abn0099. Epub 2022 Jul 7.
Dielectric elastomers (DEs) can act as deformable capacitors that generate mechanical work in response to an electric field. DEs are often based on commercial acrylic and silicone elastomers. Acrylics require prestretching to achieve high actuation strains and lack processing flexibility. Silicones allow for processability and rapid response but produce much lower strains. In this work, a processable, high-performance dielectric elastomer (PHDE) with a bimodal network structure is synthesized, and its electromechanical properties are tailored by adjusting cross-linkers and hydrogen bonding within the elastomer network. The PHDE exhibits a maximum areal strain of 190% and maintains strains higher than 110% at 2 hertz without prestretching. A dry stacking process with high efficiency, scalability, and yield enables multilayer actuators that maintain the high actuation performance of single-layer films.
电介质弹性体 (DE) 可以作为可变形电容器,在电场作用下产生机械功。 DE 通常基于商业亚克力和硅酮弹性体。亚克力需要预拉伸才能达到高驱动应变,并且缺乏加工灵活性。硅酮允许加工和快速响应,但产生的应变低得多。在这项工作中,合成了一种具有双模态网络结构的可加工高性能电介质弹性体 (PHDE),并通过调整弹性体网络内的交联剂和氢键来调整其机电性能。PHDE 的最大面应变达到 190%,在不预拉伸的情况下,在 2 赫兹时保持高于 110%的应变。具有高效率、可扩展性和高成品率的干式堆叠工艺可实现多层致动器,保持单层薄膜的高致动性能。