Development of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators - Part I: Performance of Polyurethane Film Actuators with Dangling Chains and Network Structures

Abstract

Dielectric elastomer actuators with enhanced flexibility were prepared by thermosetting polyurethane (TSU) consisting of polypropylene glycol (PPG) as an active hydrogen component and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) as an isocyanate component. The improvement was achieved by less hard segment content, i.e. less isocyanate index, the synthesized film actuators were compared with the actuator softened using a plasticizer. It was found that the film actuators prepared by this method had significant advantages in actuation under a lower electric field as well as the increase of electrical breakdown strength and of strain. Furthermore, the mechanically-stretched effect of the films was also evaluated. It turned out that prestrain up to 200% was effective in the increase of electrical breakdown strength while maintaining the actuation under a lower electric field. However, prestrain over 200% caused a decrease in actuation under a lower electric field.