In response to a stimulus, a soft material deforms, and the deformation provides a function. We call such a material a soft active material (SAM). This review focuses on one class of soft active materials: dielectric elastomers. When a membrane of a dielectric elastomer is subject to a voltage through its thickness, the membrane reduces thickness and expands area, possibly straining over 100%. ...

Due to their versatile properties, robust behavior, facile processability and low cost, organic polymers have become the material of choice for an increasing number of mature and cutting-edge technologies. In the last decade or so, a new class of polymers capable of responding to external electrical stimulation by displaying significant size or shape change has emerged. These responsive materia...

Ethylene propylene diene elastomers (EPDM) of various side chains and molecular weights were prepared as thin discs and the effects of electric field strength and temperature on the electromechanical properties were investigated. The electrical conductivity, the dielectric constant, the storage and loss moduli (G and G), the storage modulus response ( 1000V mm G  ), and the storage modulus ...

The rationales for the use of microsystems are numerous, including the reduction of consumables, a faster response time, the enhanced portability, the higher resolution, and the higher efficiency; moreover their application sectors are numerous. Nevertheless microproducts have still great difficulty in penetrating the market, mainly due to the limits of the fabrication processes. The hybrid app...

We present the development and applications of dielectric elastomers. For the last 10 years the significance of this class of polymers has risen as more applications seem possible and first products have been commercialized.

Dielectric elastomer is one of the new types electronic materials that have both drive ability and electric generating capacity. In this research, fundamental tests were performed to evaluate abilities of dielectric elastomer. As the result, it was found that dielectric elastomer had very efficient drive ability and electric generating capacity, and that it was applicable to both slow and high ...

XUANHE ZHAO∗,†, SOO JIN ADRIAN KOH∗,‡ and ZHIGANG SUO∗,§ ∗School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Kavli Institute for Nanobio Science and Technology Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 †Soft Active Materials Laboratory Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 ‡Institute of High Performance Computing 1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis S...

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The deformation of a dielectric induced by voltage is limited by electrical breakdown if the dielectric is stiff, and by electromechanical instability if the dielectric is compliant. The interplay of the two modes of instability is analyzed for a dielectric elastomer, which is compliant at a small stretch, but stiffens steeply. The theory is illustrated with recent experiments of interpenetrati...

Dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs) for harvesting electrical energy from mechanical work have been demonstrated but the energy densities achieved are still small compared with theoretical predictions. In this study, signifi cant improvements in energy density (560 J/kg with a power density of 280 W/ kg and an effi ciency of 27%) are achieved using equi-biaxial stretching, a mechanical loadi...