We developed a novel carbon black (CB) ink and tailored it for compatibility with the small cartridge nozzles (17x17 µm) of inkjet printers. With this ink, we printed a precise pattern on a dielectric elastomer membrane (VHB). By combining a dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) next to the printed CB pattern, its resistance could be significantly changed (> 3 orders of magnitude) accompanied with actuation and non-actuation of the DEA. Thanks to its excellent piezoresistive performance, we have successfully applied this dielectric elastomer-based device as a “switch” for controlling soft grippers and as a multiplexer for signal processing.
Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) based flexible and stretchable electronics have attracted considerable attention over the past decades. The electrode components play an important role in the DEA performance. In this work, we studied how the incorporation of soft matrices in the electrodes affects the DEA actuation. The ultrasonic spraying was used to fabricate multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) based electrodes for DEA. The results indicated that the addition of a water-soluble block polymer and silicone gel (acting as the soft matrices) could improve the actuation of the DEA with neat MWCNT electrodes by ~10% and ~24%, respectively. An inkjet printing ink, consisting of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), carbon black (CB) and chlorobenzene, was further developed. The stability, particle size, resistance, and morphology of 1-3 printing layers were characterized. The DEA with the inkjet-printed CB/PDMS electrodes showed 50% area stain at 2500 V, which is higher than the actuation with neat CB powder or CNT electrodes reported previously. Both results of the ultrasonic spraying and inkjet printing confirmed that the incorporation of soft matrices in the electrodes is helpful for DEA actuation.
We successfully integrated dielectric elastomer switches (DESs) with dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) on one flexible dielectric elastomer (DE) membrane via spray painting. The actuator can generate an in-plane compression in the direction of DES, leading to a dramatic reduction in the electric resistance of the switch; while the electric resistance changes back to its initial value when the actuator is off. Therefore, the resultant component exhibits piezoresistive properties and can be further used as DE inverters. This entirely soft inverter can be potentially applied to develop biomimetic robotics in terms of driving, controlling, monitoring, sensing, and self-regulation.
We present a 4-channel multiplexer made with dielectric elastomers (DEs). Multiplexers are fundamental blocks in electronics that allow multichannel communications. Many users/channels can, one at a time, communicate with a shared resource, without the need for building multiple copies of it. After introducing the basic elements of DE-electronics, a DEA-driver, composed of a MUX and a strain sensor, is realized. The experiment shows that a MUX can be used to control the actuation of a DEA in response to an external stimulus.
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