We demonstrate that the force output and work density of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based dielectric elastomer transducers can be significantly enhanced by the addition of high permittivity titanium dioxide nanoparticles which was also shown by Stoyanov et al[1] for pre-stretched elastomers and by Carpi et al for RTV silicones[2]. Furthermore the elastomer matrix is optimized to give very high breakdown strengths. We obtain an increase in the dielectric permittivity of a factor of approximately 2 with a loading of 12% TiO₂ particles compared to the pure modified silicone elastomer with breakdown strengths remaining more or less unaffected by the loading of TiO₂ particles. Breakdown strengths were measured in the range from approximately 80-150 V/μm with averages of the order of 120-130 V/μm for the modified silicone elastomer with loadings ranging from 0 to 12%.

Date Published: 9 April 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8687, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013, 86871I (9 April 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2009465

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8687:
Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Editor(s)