Cyclic performance of viscoelastic dielectric elastomers with solid hydrogel electrodes.

Cyclic performance of viscoelastic dielectric elastomers with solid hydrogel electrodes.

In a study combining both experiments and theory, we study the cyclic performance of acrylic DE actuators with solid hydrogel electrodes. We show that the viscoelasticity of the solid electrodes and the applied voltage rates significantly influence the maximum and residual strains of a circular actuator under repeated loadings. We also achieve good correlation between theory and experiments. This work is led by researchers from Xi'an Jiantong University and Harvard University.

Experimental setup of circular DE actuators with either solid transparent hydrogel electrodes or carbon grease. Courtesy from Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Citation info.

Yuanyuan Bai, Yanhui Jiang, Baohong Chen, Choon Chiang Foo, Yongcun Zhou, Feng Xiang, Jinxiong Zhou, Hong Wang and Zhigang Suo. Cyclic performance of viscoelastic dielectric elastomers with solid hydrogel electrodes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 062902 (2014). [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4865200]