PDMS Elastomers With Adjusted Crosslinking Degrees for Versatile Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

ABSTRACT The mechanical and electrical properties of dielectric elastomers (DEs) determine the electromechanical behaviors of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). Silicone rubber (e.g., polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) is one of the most commonly used DEs. PDMS of Sylgard 186 is composed of Component A (poly(methylvinylsiloxane), PMVS) and Component B (poly(methylhydrogensiloxane), PMHS). Adjusting the cured ratios, PDMS, H‐enriched PDMS (H‐PDMS), and vinyl‐enriched PDMS (v‐PDMS) elastomers are conveniently obtained. Among them, the PDMS elastomer with the ratio of 10:1 for A: B exhibits the highest elongation (767%) at break, combined with the highest breakdown voltage of 53.6 V/μm, enabling it to withstand a high driving electric field, suitable for fabricating DEA with a high output power. The v‐PDMS elastomer with the ratio of 15:1 possesses a low Young's modulus of 0.151 kPa and a high dielectric constant of 3.36, and its DEA exhibits the largest area strain of 10.4% under the field strength of 31.25 V/μm. The H‐PDMS elastomer with the ratio of 7:1 displays the highest Young's modulus of 0.689 MPa and the lowest viscoelasticity (tan δ is merely 0.028), showing the highest actuation stability with a relative displacement shift of 10.3% within 3000 s actuations.