Journal of Materials Chemistry C
·
2021
·Vol. 9
·期 36
·12239-12247
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IF 7.393
Run-Pan Nie,Wen-Bin Tang,Chao Chen,Hua-Dong Huang,Yue Li,Kun Dai,Jun Lei,Zhong-Ming Li
Dielectric elastomers widely used for actuation applications (e.g., soft robots, tunable optics) are vulnerable to mechanical damage, so healability is crucial and is associated with the reliability and service lifetime of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). For DEAs, other than healability, simultaneously possessing a superior actuation performance remains a huge challenge. Herein, a highly transparent, extremely stretchable and healable material was developed based on a fluorine-rich poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) elastomer, where a polar dibutyl phthalate (DBP) was used as the plasticizer so that the healing and electromechanical properties were effectively improved and significantly surpassed those of the polymer matrix. After serious mechanical damage, the composite elastomer quickly healed in less than 24 h at room temperature and returned to almost the same state prior to damage due to the strong dipole–dipole interactions and enhanced chain mobility induced by the polar CF3 groups and plasticizing effect, respectively. Moreover, P(VDF-HFP) with 10% DBP exhibited an extreme stretchability (strain as high as 2000%), high dielectric properties ( = 10.9 at 103 Hz) and low Young's modulus (0.93 MPa). When used as the dielectric elastomer of a bending actuator, it could provide a bending angle of 24.8° at a given electric field of 25 MV m−1, which is superior to that of the pure matrix (17.7° at 25 MV m−1). Such an outstanding comprehensive performance can potentially address the current challenge of self-healing dielectric elastomers and enable the composite to be used for soft robot, tunable optic and other actuation applications. Moreover, our work provides a promising strategy for fabricating multifunctional soft materials that are tolerant to various operating environments, e.g., those requiring a large deformation, or prone to suffering damage from puncturing, scratching and cutting.
研究领域:
材料科学
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软体机器人
·
智能材料
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
·
2022
·
IF 9.879
Yiting Cai,Zheqi Chen,Yang Gao,Jiali Tang,Jie Mao,Dan Wang,Jian-Feng Chen,Yingwu Luo
Dielectric elastomer is a kind of attractive artificial muscle with fast and reversible deformation excited by applied voltages . Typical dielectric elastomers suffer from low dielectric breakdown strength , which limits the achievable electro-actuation performance. We report that the introduction of surface-modified ZrO 2 nanoparticles in dielectric elastomer (poly(styrene- b -butyl acrylate- b -styrene)) can significantly increase the dielectric breakdown strength. We highlight that the surface modifier molecules for ZrO 2 nanoparticles should be designed to have an oligomeric chain compatible with the elastomer matrix to relieve the entropy loss of the elastomer chains. Thus, good dispersion of the nanoparticles can be achieved and the modulus is mildly increased. As a result, the maximum electro-actuation area strain is increased by a factor of 2.0 (from 19.1% to 37.8%), and the maximum energy density by a factor of 9.2 (from 5.96 kJ/m 3 to 55.15 kJ/m 3 ) by adding 1.7 vol% ZrO 2 of 8 nm.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
纳米技术
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS A-PHYSICAL
·
2015
·
IF 1.903
Yongjun Tang,Zhigang Xue,Xiaolin Xie,Xingping Zhou
The sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membranes with different degrees of sulfonation (DS) were prepared for fabricating high-performance ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) actuators. The ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake and ion conductivity of SPEEK membranes increase accordingly with the increase of the DS of SPEEK membranes. The SPEEK membranes show much higher IEC and water uptake than those of the traditional Nafion membrane. The SPEEK actuator with the highest DS, namely SPEEK3 actuator, shows the best bending deformation under the electric stimulus. Compared with Nafion system, the SPEEK3 actuator increases at maximum blending strain under sinusoidal voltage of 3 V at 1 Hz. These greatly enhanced actuation performance indicates the SPEEK is a candidate to substitute Nafion in the field of IPMC actuator.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
高分子化学
·
智能材料
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2025
·
IF 8.2
Run-Pan Nie,Hua-Dong Huang,Ding-Xiang Yan,Li-Chuan Jia,Jun Lei,Zhong-Ming Li
The ongoing soft actuation has accentuated the demand for dielectric elastomers (DEs) capable of large deformation to replace the traditional rigid mechanical apparatus. However, the low actuation strain of DEs considerably limits their practical applications. This work developed high-performance polyurethane–urea (PUU) elastomers featuring large actuation strains utilizing an approach of kinetic control over the microphase separation structure during the fabrication process. Additionally, disulfide (DS) bonds were incorporated as dynamic chemical linkages to effectively heal the mechanical damage in the resulting elastomer (PUUDS). Alteration in processing conditions creates notable differences in the rate of phase separation among the multiphase materials. A faster phase separation rate is associated with a reduced degree of microphase separation, increased spacing within hard domains, a higher proportion of disordered hydrogen bonds, and hydrogen bonding index. These changes synergistically improved the electromechanical properties of the PUUDS elastomers, thereby enhancing their actuation performance. The sample processed under the fastest phase separation condition showed the lowest Young’s modulus and a pronounced dielectric response at low frequencies. The electrostriction effect accounts for 89% of the total electromechanical coupling, achieving a significant reduction in the driving voltage during actuation. The maximum actuation strain recorded was 21.6% at an electric field of 45 MV/m. Benefiting from the fully reversible dynamic network, the damaged PUUDS elastomer can be healed and restored to its original elongation at break after 3 h at room temperature. Practical application was demonstrated through the development of a miniature butterfly model constructed from a single-layer PUUDS elastomer, showcasing potential applications in soft robotics. These findings highlight the critical role of kinetic control in optimizing the performance of advanced DEs.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
软体机器人
·
高分子化学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
POLYMER
·
2024
·
IF 4.1
Liming Jin,Chuying Zhang,Haotong Guo,Huiqin Wang,Jinbo Bai,Hang Zhao
Dielectric elastomer (DE) has a pivotal potential in various applications as a typical electro-active polymer. However, traditional DE materials often require high electric fields to achieve an excellent electro-actuated performance, which severely restricts their practical applicability. In this study, vinyl methyl silicone (VMQ) macromolecular chains are introduced as the highly-viscous plasticizer to reduce the elastic modulus of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based DE composites. The bisilane-modified TiO 2 nanoparticles (mTO) that grafted by thiols and octadecane are incorporated to increase the dielectric constant of DE composites. The synergistic effects contributed by these components give rise to a notable improvement in the electro-actuated performance of DE composites. Moreover, the thiol-ene click chemical reaction between the functional groups on mTO and VMQ makes the formation of a semi-interlocked cross-linked network structure within the PDMS-based elastomers. This network effectively mitigates the issue of plasticizer leaching during the long-term utilization of DE composites. The PDMS-based composite comprising 10 wt% mTO and 20 wt% VMQ achieves a remarkable electro-actuated strain of 72.5 % at 65.4 V/μm, representing a 539 % increase compared to pure PDMS (∼18.6 %). This study provides an effective strategy for developing advanced DE composites with high electro-actuated properties at low electric fields.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
高分子化学
·
智能材料
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2025
·
IF 13.2
Youhua Xiao,Ruifeng Hu,Jiahao Li,Jingwen Ni,Xiao Yu,Xiaodong Lu,Xingyu Shang,Jie Mao,Shengxiang Yang
Dielectric elastomer (DE) materials hold promise as artificial muscles due to their ability to deform under external electric field stimulation. To enhance their actuation performance, we have improved the dielectric breakdown strength of polyurethane (PU) based DE materials by incorporating voltage stabilizers into their hard segment through copolymerization. Voltage stabilizers with a lower HOMO-LUMO energy gap can effectively capture high-energy electrons, thereby mitigating the degradation of polymer molecular chains and increasing the dielectric breakdown strength. Specifically, when 50 % of the hard segments in PU contain a kind of voltage stabilizer (4,4′-dihydroxybenzophenone, DHBP), the PU exhibits the optimized dielectric breakdown strength, increasing from an initial value of 32 V /μm to 58 V/μm. Notably, the modified PU retains a low initial modulus (0.24 MPa) without experiencing the stiffening problem, as the rigid structure of the DHBP is incorporated into the hard segments of PU. Without pre-stretching, the 50 % DHBP-PU achieves an improved maximum actuation strain of 57 % and a theoretical energy density of 14.4 J/m 3 at 83 V /μm, outperforming most PU-DE materials. The DHBP-PU, characterized by its enhanced dielectric breakdown strength and improved electroactuation performance, holds great potential for applications in flexible actuators and soft robotics.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
高分子科学
·
机电系统
·
软体机器人
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）