Abstract
Supersonic cluster beam implantation of Ag nanoparticles is proposed for the fabrication of stretchable and compliant electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) with reduced thickness. Thanks to the low-energy and finely tunable implantation process, a nanocomposite Ag/polydimethylsiloxane electrode layer is produced with a moderate stiffening effect for the DEA in contrast with a common deposition strategy for electrodes. Thin DEAs with an overall thickness of 17 μm were fabricated and tested under different preloading conditions, demonstrating a max uniaxial actuation strain of 2.5% at an actuation voltage of 765 V, lower than the typical voltage values of DEAs. The electrodes remained conductive up to 40% strain, and they fully recovered the original resistance after 70% stretching. Our results represent a significant step towards the development of DEAs operating at reduced actuation voltages, by stacking of micrometer-thick elastomer films, paving the way to novel applications in soft robotics.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 064901 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Physics |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 9 Aug 2018 |
Keywords
- Nanoparticles
- Electrical properties
- Robotics
- Polymer
- smart materials
- Thin films
- supersonic flow
- Composite materials
- stretchable conductor
- Nanocomposite