An Investigation of Structure-Property Relationships in Silicone-Based Dielectric Electroactive Elastomers by Varying Stoichiometric Imbalance of the Network

作者：Zhang Mengjia; Denes Istvan; Buchmeiser Michael R^*

来源：Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, 2016, 301(3): 337-347.

DOI：10.1002/mame.201500244

Silicone-based elastomers are promising materials for future dielectric elastomer actuators. To ensure optimum performance and the long-term reliability of the actuators, it is essential to gain a fundamental understanding of the correlation between the elastomer's network structure and the mechanical and electrical responses of the material. For this purpose, mechanical and electrical tests are performed on a series of silicone elastomer films with different crosslinking densities, which are prepared by changing the stoichiometric imbalance of the network. It is determined that higher cross-linking density leads to a higher elastic modulus and a longer fatigue lifetime, whereas reduced permittivity is observed because of lower chain mobility. Dielectric breakdown strength is also observed to increase in line with increasing cross-linking density, and the variations in relation to the measured elastic modulus and permittivity agree well with the Stark-Garton model based on electromechanical instability.

• 出版日期2016-3