Soft, tough, and fast polyacrylate dielectric elastomer for non-magnetic motor

Li-Juan Yin, Yu Zhao, Jing Zhu, Minhao Yang, Huichan Zhao (), Jia-Yao Pei, Shao-Long Zhong and Zhi-Min Dang ()
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Li-Juan Yin: Tsinghua University
Yu Zhao: Zhengzhou University
Jing Zhu: Tsinghua University
Minhao Yang: North China Electric Power University
Huichan Zhao: Tsinghua University
Jia-Yao Pei: Tsinghua University
Shao-Long Zhong: Tsinghua University
Zhi-Min Dang: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) with large electrically-actuated strain can build light-weight and flexible non-magnetic motors. However, dielectric elastomers commonly used in the field of soft actuation suffer from high stiffness, low strength, and high driving field, severely limiting the DEA’s actuating performance. Here we design a new polyacrylate dielectric elastomer with optimized crosslinking network by rationally employing the difunctional macromolecular crosslinking agent. The proposed elastomer simultaneously possesses desirable modulus (~0.073 MPa), high toughness (elongation ~2400%), low mechanical loss (tan δm = 0.21@1 Hz, 20 °C), and satisfactory dielectric properties ( $${\varepsilon }_{{{{{{\rm{r}}}}}}}$$ ε r = 5.75, tan δe = 0.0019 @1 kHz), and accordingly, large actuation strain (118% @ 70 MV m−1), high energy density (0.24 MJ m−3 @ 70 MV m−1), and rapid response (bandwidth above 100 Hz). Compared with VHBTM 4910, the non-magnetic motor made of our elastomer presents 15 times higher rotation speed. These findings offer a strategy to fabricate high-performance dielectric elastomers for soft actuators.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24851-w

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