Effect of screen printing parameters on sensor and actuator performance of dielectric elastomer (DE) membranes

Fasolt, Bettina; Hodgins, Micah; Rizzello, Gianluca; Seelecke, Stefan

doi:10.1016/j.sna.2017.08.028

Cited by 79 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…We did not test this as we could not obtain a commercially available non-swelling grease for silicones. However, reliable silicone-based DEAs using carbon grease electrodes have been reported by Fasolt et al, using the Wacker AK 100 K silicone oil [32].…”

Section: Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-cycle electromechanical aging of dielectric elastomer actuators with carbon-based electrodes

Saint-Aubin

Rosset

Schlatter

et al. 2018

Smart Mater. Struct.

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We present high-cycle aging tests of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) based on silicone elastomers, reporting on the time-evolution of actuation strain and of electrode resistance over millions of cycles. We compare several types of carbon-based electrodes, and for the first time show how the choice of electrode has a dramatic influence on DEA aging. An expanding circle DEA configuration is used, consisting of a commercial silicone membrane with the following electrodes: commercial carbon grease applied manually, solvent-diluted carbon grease applied by stamping (pad printing), loose carbon black powder applied manually, carbon black powder suspension applied by inkjet-printing, and conductive silicone-carbon composite applied by stamping. The silicone-based DEAs with manually applied carbon grease electrodes show the shortest lifetime of less than 10 5 cycles at 5% strain, while the inkjet-printed carbon powder and the stamped silicone-carbon composite make for the most reliable devices, with lifetimes greater than 10 7 cycles at 5% strain. These results are valid for the specific dielectric and electrode configurations that were tested: using other dielectrics or electrode formulations would lead to different lifetimes and failure modes. We find that aging (as seen in the change in resistance and in actuation strain versus cycle number) is independent of the actuation frequency from 10 Hz to 200 Hz, and depends on the total accumulated time the DEA spends in an actuated state.

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Section: Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-cycle electromechanical aging of dielectric elastomer actuators with carbon-based electrodes

Saint-Aubin

Rosset

Schlatter

et al. 2018

Smart Mater. Struct.

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“…Technologies for stretchable electrodes for DEAs, reviewed in references [12,17], include metal ion-implantation [18], transfer of SWCNT layers [19]., ionogels and hydrogels [20,21], or silicones or silicone oils doped with carbon black applied by pad printing [3,16], spray-coating [10], blade casting [22] or screen-printing [23]. Those electrode fabrication methods are not suitable for DEAs with a membrane thickness of 1 m, which would allow for DEAs working at 100 V, as the electrode thickness is either not negligible with respect to that of the DE membrane, or, for the ion-implanted method, with 50 nm thick electrodes, the electrode stiffness is much too high.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stretchable composite monolayer electrodes for low voltage dielectric elastomer actuators

Haitami

Sorba

et al. 2018

Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical

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In this work, a Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube/poly(alkylthiophene) (MWCNT/PT) composite is developed as the electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) using the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) method. These composites form stable monolayers at the air-water interface that can then be LS transferred onto a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer membrane. The monolayer electrode remains conductive up to 100% uniaxial strain. We present a method to fabricate DEAs using the LS transferred electrodes. By using a mask during the transfer step, the electrodes can be patterned with better than 200 m resolution on both sides of a 1.4 m-thick pre-stretched PDMS membrane to produce an ultra-low voltage DEA. The DEA generates 4.0% linear strain at an actuation voltage of 100 V, an order of magnitude lower than the typical DEA operating voltage.

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“…Sophisticated means for DE actuator fabrication are also under development that can be used for mass-production [59]. These include stack actuator fabrication from pre-existing commercially available dielectric membrane material [66], spin coating [64], and screen printing of the electrode [31].…”

Section: Dielectric Elastomer Eap Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators—background review

2019

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Certain polymers can be excited by electric, chemical, pneumatic, optical, or magnetic field to change their shape or size. For convenience and practical actuation, using electrical excitation is the most attractive stimulation method and the related materials are known as electroactive polymers (EAP) and artificial muscles. One of the attractive applications that are considered for EAP materials is biologically inspired capabilities, i.e., biomimetics, and successes have been reported that previously were considered science fiction concepts. Today, there are many known EAP materials. Some of the EAP materials also exhibit the reverse effect of converting mechanical strain to electrical signal allowing using them as sensors and energy harvesters. Efforts are made worldwide to turn EAP materials to actuators-of-choice and they involve developing their scientific and engineering foundations including the understanding of their operation principles. These are also involve developing effective computational chemistry models, comprehensive material science, and electro-mechanics analytical tools. These efforts have been leading to better understanding the parameters that control their capability and durability. Moreover, effective processing techniques are developed for their fabrication, shaping, electroding, and characterization. While progress have been reported in the research and development of all the types of EAP materials, the trend in recent years has been growing towards significant development in using dielectric elastomers.These characteristics are making them highly attractive for use in muscle-like actuators. Some are biologically inspired (i.e., biomimetic applications) [8,9,11], and all can function without hard metallic gears and mechanisms. Examples of the applications of EAP actuators include a polypyrrole fish [71], ionic polymer-metal composite robot fish [23], miniature dielectric elastomer grippers for satellites [5], ionic conductor loudspeakers [51], an electrostrictive polymer catheter [35], a haptic interface [32], active braille displays [9], a fish-like blimp [45], static electric rotary motors [3], worm-like robots [46], a crawling robot with no hard electronics [42], facial animatronic devices [11], optical devices [107], biomedical devices, microfluidic devices, and even a wearable device to assist eyelid blinking [103]. The impressive improvements in the field [52,68] are increasingly attracting the interest of engineers and scientists from many different disciplines.Many EAP actuators are still emerging and need further advancement in order for them to form part of mass-produced products. This requires the use of computational chemistry models, comprehensive material science, electro-mechanic analytical tools, and material processing research. To maximize their actuation capability and durability, effective fabrication, shaping, and electroding techniques are being developed. In addition, techniques of characterizing their response as well as documenting them in databases and related ...

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Effect of screen printing parameters on sensor and actuator performance of dielectric elastomer (DE) membranes

Cited by 79 publications

References 25 publications

High-cycle electromechanical aging of dielectric elastomer actuators with carbon-based electrodes

High-cycle electromechanical aging of dielectric elastomer actuators with carbon-based electrodes

Stretchable composite monolayer electrodes for low voltage dielectric elastomer actuators

Electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators—background review

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