Nanostructured organic materials derived from block copolymers solvated by block-selective solvents have shown
considerable potential as versatile dielectric elastomers. These materials can easily be tuned to achieve the mechanical
and electrical properties required for actuator applications. They are lightweight and attractive due to their facile
processing, robust properties and reliable performance. Their superb actuation behavior is realized when they are used as
dielectric materials under actuation conditions promoting Maxwell compression, which produces large mechanical
displacements, coupling efficiencies, and energy densities. These properties generally improve when the material is
subjected to mechanical pre-strain. In most cases, mechanical pre-strain is needed to safely achieve application of a
desired electrical field. Requisite pre-strain generally necessitates additional overhead in terms of weight and space for
the device, and promotes changes in mechanical properties. In this study a new electroactive nanostructured polymer
(ENP) is prepared from a triblock copolymer and a nonvolatile block-selective solvent, and evaluated as an actuator
candidate. The copolymer exhibits reasonably high actuation strains (up to 70 area%) at relatively low electric fields and
energy densities up to 50 kJ/m3 without pre-strain. These performance metrics exceed those reported for conventional
dielectric materials such as the VHB acrylic elastomer, as well as those of ENPs derived from styrenic triblock
copolymers under no pre-strain.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.