Silicone Elastomers with High‐Permittivity Ionic Liquids Loading

Abstract

The most obvious challenge facing current dielectric elastomers (DEs) is the high driving voltages necessary to activate them, and so, an effective way to overcome this shortcoming is to increase their dielectric permittivity. Herein, highpermittivity dielectric elastomer materials are prepared by synthesizing silicone elastomer loaded with ionic liquids (ILs). The influence of the structure and the amounts of ILs on the material properties is discussed, and important properties for material applications as DEs, such as dielectric permittivity, gel fraction, and mechanical properties, are also investigated. It is found that 1-butyl-3methylimidazolium hexafluoroantimonate (BmimSbF 6 ) is the most suitable IL for the given system. The dielectric permittivity of the material with 90 parts per hundred rubber (phr) BmimSbF 6 is 3.2 times higher than that of the pristine silicone elastomer, whereas the dielectric permittivity of pure silicone elastomer and elastomer loaded with ILs decreases in line with increased temperature in all cases. Young's modulus decreases in line with the increasing amount of BmimSbF 6 in the elastomer, as expected. A simpler figure of merit (F* om ) for actuators is used, and F* om of the elastomer with a 90 phr IL loading is 10.40, thereby indicating that the material has a great advantage when used in actuators.

Improving Dielectric Constant of Polymers through Liquid Electrolyte Inclusion

“…The origin of dielectric constant improvement by electronic conductors is the generation of space charge polarization under electric field, [ 30–33 ] we realized that mobile ions of ionic conductors should be able to behave like electrons, thereby improving dielectric constant in a similar way as electric conductors. [ 34 ] We therefore propose the use of liquid electrolytes as functional fillers to improve the dielectric constant of polymer dielectrics. Considering liquid electrolytes are fluidic in nature, the resultant composite material would possess good flexibility.…”

Silicone‐Ionic Liquid Elastomer Composite with Keratin as Reinforcing Agent Utilized as Pressure Sensor

“…The system of ionic liquid and elastomer has been investigated in a previous study. [ 17 ] The homogeneous mixture obtained was then coated as a film and cured in the oven at 80 °C for 2 h. Copper sheets were attached to the two surfaces of the film as electrodes, and specimens were investigated using a voltage response test as described in the experimental section in Supporting Information.…”

Interfacial Polarization in Thermoplastic Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Composites

“…Polymer modification can be achieved in various ways, including copolymerization, blending, and/or by adding organic and inorganic compounds, fillers, or fibrous reinforcement. Each approach leads to the improvement of specific physical properties (i.e., mechanical [ 1 , 2 ], thermal [ 3 , 4 ], electrical [ 5 ], and/or dielectric properties [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]). For highly demanding applications, composite materials—thermoplastic composites in particular—are considered most promising, owing to their high strength-to-weight ratios and excellent fatigue resistance [ 9 ].…”