A combination of silicone dielectric elastomer and graphene nanosheets for the preparation of bending flexible transducers

A newly developed dielectric elastomer (DE) bending transducer composed of a functionalized graphene-silicone DE composite sandwiched between two graphene flexible electrode layers had been investigated. This bending transducer displayed high actuation displacement (5.3 mm) under 2500 V direct-current electric field. Compared with pure silicone DE, the silicone DE filled with silane coupling agent functionalized graphene nanofillers showed enhanced dielectric constant, and low loss modulus. The silane coupling agent functionalization method is simple, green, and easy to control, and can be used as a general strategy for improving the dielectric and electric actuated strain of DE.