TY - JOUR
T1 - The Current State of Silicone-Based Dielectric Elastomer Transducers
AU - Madsen, Frederikke Bahrt
AU - Daugaard, Anders Egede
AU - Hvilsted, Søren
AU - Skov, Anne Ladegaard
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Silicone elastomers are promising materials for dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) due
to their superior properties such as high efficiency, reliability and fast response times. DETs
consist of thin elastomer films sandwiched between compliant electrodes, and they consti-
tute an interesting class of transducer due to their inherent lightweight and potentially large
strains. For the field to progress towards industrial implementation, a leap in material devel-
opment is required, specifically targeting longer lifetime and
higher energy densities to provide more efficient transduction
at lower driving voltages. In this review, the current state of sili-
cone elastomers for DETs is summarised and critically discussed,
including commercial elastomers, composites, polymer blends,
grafted elastomers and complex network structures. For future
developments in the field it is essential that all aspects of the
elastomer are taken into account, namely dielectric losses, life-
time and the very often ignored polymer network integrity and
stability.
AB - Silicone elastomers are promising materials for dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) due
to their superior properties such as high efficiency, reliability and fast response times. DETs
consist of thin elastomer films sandwiched between compliant electrodes, and they consti-
tute an interesting class of transducer due to their inherent lightweight and potentially large
strains. For the field to progress towards industrial implementation, a leap in material devel-
opment is required, specifically targeting longer lifetime and
higher energy densities to provide more efficient transduction
at lower driving voltages. In this review, the current state of sili-
cone elastomers for DETs is summarised and critically discussed,
including commercial elastomers, composites, polymer blends,
grafted elastomers and complex network structures. For future
developments in the field it is essential that all aspects of the
elastomer are taken into account, namely dielectric losses, life-
time and the very often ignored polymer network integrity and
stability.
U2 - 10.1002/marc.201500576
DO - 10.1002/marc.201500576
M3 - Review
C2 - 26773231
SN - 1022-1336
VL - 37
SP - 378
EP - 413
JO - Macromolecular Rapid Communications
JF - Macromolecular Rapid Communications
IS - 5
ER -