Enhanced anisotropic response of dielectric elastomer actuators with microcombed and etched carbon nanotube sheet electrodes

Dielectric elastomers (DE), also known as dielectric electroactive polymers offer tremendous potential in a wide-ranging applications including microrobotics and wearable responsive systems. The real-world application of DEs, however, has been limited by a number of factors, including facile means of producing directional stress/strain. As a critical component of the DE actuator, the electrodes should have high electrical conductance under finite in-plane deformation, good electromechanical stability, and ease of shaping based on the design requirements. In this work we investigate highly aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets as electrodes in DE actuators to yield anisotropic electromechanical response. The morphology of CNT sheets were altered by microcombing and selective laser etching to enhance mechanical anisotropy. The enhancement of CNT sheets alignment results in almost pure unidirectional strain of 33% at a relatively moderate electric field. The results demonstrate that the deformation anisotropy of DE actuators can be significantly improved by directional laser etching of the electrodes rather than microcombing alone.

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