Evaluation of dielectric elastomers to develop materials suitable for actuation

Banet, Philippe; Zeggai, Nouh; Chavanne, J.; Nguyen, Giao T.M.; Chikh, Linda; Plesse, Cédric; Almanza, Morgan; Martinez, Thomas; Civet, Yoan; Perriard, Yves; Fichet, Odile

doi:10.1039/d1sm00621e

Cited by 29 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…1 The current commercial elastomers such as silicone and VHB have low relative permittivity (ε′, 2∼4), showing limited energy transduction efficiency when used for actuators and energy generators. 2 In addition, commercial elastomers are often produced by covalently crosslinking or vulcanizing to form permanent covalent cross-linking networks for enhanced mechanical robustness and chemical resistivity. However, the permanent cross-linked elastomers raised further challenges in repairing, reprocessing, or recycling, which highly limit the sustainable applications of the DEs.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The energy transduction performance of DEs is intrinsically determined by the dielectric permittivity, electrical breakdown strength, and mechanical stretchability of the elastomers . The current commercial elastomers such as silicone and VHB have low relative permittivity (ε′, 2∼4), showing limited energy transduction efficiency when used for actuators and energy generators . In addition, commercial elastomers are often produced by covalently crosslinking or vulcanizing to form permanent covalent cross-linking networks for enhanced mechanical robustness and chemical resistivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tailoring Electromechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Vitrimers by Cross-Linkers

Bui

Wemyss

Zhang

et al. 2022

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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The growing demand for smart polymeric transducers such as dielectric elastomer actuators and energy harvesters has urged the use of sustainable and recyclable elastomeric materials. Vitrimer chemistry has shed light on future reprocessable and recyclable thermosets and elastomers. In this work, epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) vitrimers were prepared using diacid or triacid cross-linkers and formed covalently cross-linking networks via thermally triggered reversible β-hydroxy ester bonds. The crosslinked ENR elastomers exhibited Arrhenius-type viscoelastic behavior with a complete stress relaxation between 140 and 160 °C, that is, vitrimer characteristics, which were highly dependent on the cross-linking temperature. The mechanical and dielectric properties of the ENR vitrimers can be tuned by varying the molecular structure and concentration of the cross-linkers. Among the diacid and triacid cross-linkers, Pripol 1017 fatty polyacid (P1017) and 3,3′-dithiopropionic acid (DTPA) had similar effects on the cross-linking density and mechanical properties of the ENR vitrimers. The highest tensile strength of 8.70 ± 1.9 or 15.6 ± 2.6 MPa was obtained at 6 mol % of P1017 or DTPA, respectively. While for diamide-based diacid cross-linker (DME), 8 mol % was needed to reach the highest tensile strength of 13.1 ± 2.7 MPa for the elastomer. The three ENR vitrimers showed increased relative permittivity ε′ = 5∼7 at 1 kHz while maintaining low dielectric losses compared to traditional dicumyl peroxide-cured ENR, with ε′ = 3.57 at 1 kHz. With the optimized acidic crosslinker concentrations of P1017 at 6 mol %, DTPA at 6 mol %, and DME at 8 mol %, the ENR vitrimers exhibited improved actuation capabilities at lower electrical fields. Utilizing dynamic cross-linkers to tune the electromechanical properties of dielectric elastomers and the reversibly cross-linked polymer networks will open new opportunities for smart and sustainable dielectric elastomer devices.

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Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tailoring Electromechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Vitrimers by Cross-Linkers

Bui

Wemyss

Zhang

et al. 2022

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

Self Cite

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show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies in the last decade have reported that dielectric elastomers are very promising materials to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, or vice versa, in several applications, such as electromechanical transducers or energy-harvesting systems [ 1 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. All these studies have had as their final goal to improve the electromechanical sensitivity of the dielectric elastomers through several approaches, such as testing different types and combinations of polymers, with or without adding (nano)particles to make dielectric composites [ 11 ]. However, what material property needs to be changed to improve its actuation performance and which figure of merit is best to evaluate the electromechanical conversion abilities of the tested dielectric elastomers are two questions with different answers based on the different approaches reported in the literature [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control of Dielectric and Mechanical Properties of Styrenic Block Copolymer by Graphite Incorporation

et al. 2022

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The structure–property relationship of dielectric elastomers, as well as the methods of improving the control of this relationship, has been widely studied over the last few years, including in some of our previous works. In this paper, we study the control, improvement, and correlation, for a significant range of temperatures, of the mechanical and dielectric properties of polystyrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene (SEBS) and maleic-anhydride-grafted SEBS (SEBS-MA) by using graphite (G) as filler in various concentrations. The aim is to analyze the suitability of these composites for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy or vice versa. The dielectric spectroscopy analysis performed in the frequency range of 10 to 1 MHz and at temperatures between 27 and 77 °C emphasized an exponential increase in real permittivity with G concentration, a low level of dielectric losses (≈10−3), as well as the stability of dielectric losses with temperature for high G content. These results correlate well with the increase in mechanical stiffness with an increase in G content for both SEBS/G and SEBS-MA/G composites. The activation energies for the dielectric relaxation processes detected in SEBS/G and SEBS-MA/G composites were also determined and discussed in connection with the mechanical, thermal, and structural properties resulting from thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses.

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“…A dielectric elastomer (DE) refers is a novel intelligent material that is capable of producing large shape and size deformation under an external electric field [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Compared with conventional intelligent materials (e.g., shape memory alloys (SMAs), piezoelectric ceramic (PZT), and magnetostrictive material (MSM), DE materials have shown advantages of a fast response, large electrical distortion, good elasticity, high efficiency of electromechanical transformation, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Actuation Properties of Polyurethane Fiber Membranes Filled with PEG-SWNTs Dielectric Microcapsules

Shuai

Liu

et al. 2022

Membranes

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Polyurethane dielectric elastomer (PUDE), a typical representative of emerging intelligent materials, has advantages, such as good elasticity and flexibility, fast response speed, high electromechanical conversion efficiency, and strong environmental tolerance. It has promising applications in underwater bionic actuators, but its electromechanical properties should be improved further. In this context, the design of polyethylene glycol (PEG) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNTs) dielectric microcapsules was adopted to balance the problem of contradictions, which conventional dielectric modification methods face between comprehensive properties (e.g., dielectric properties and modulus). Moreover, the dielectric microcapsule was evenly filled into the polyurethane fiber by coaxial spinning technology to enhance the actuation performance and instability of the electrical breakdown threshold of conventional polyurethane dielectric modification. It was revealed that the dielectric microcapsules were oriented in the polyurethane fiber, and the actuation performance of the composite fiber membrane was significantly better than that of the polyurethane fiber membrane filled with SWNTs, thus confirming that the filling design of the dielectric microcapsules in polyurethane fiber could have certain technical advantages. On that basis, this study provides a novel idea for the dielectric modification of polyurethane.

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Evaluation of dielectric elastomers to develop materials suitable for actuation

Abstract: Commercial dielectric elastomers and their modification methods are reviewed. A method is proposed to overcome the complex interdependency of their properties allowing quick comparison and selection of suitable materials for soft actuator applications.

Cited by 29 publications

References 79 publications

Tailoring Electromechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Vitrimers by Cross-Linkers

Tailoring Electromechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Vitrimers by Cross-Linkers

Control of Dielectric and Mechanical Properties of Styrenic Block Copolymer by Graphite Incorporation

Study on the Actuation Properties of Polyurethane Fiber Membranes Filled with PEG-SWNTs Dielectric Microcapsules

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