Development of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators - Part II: Preparation of the High Dielectric Constant Film Actuators Containing BaTiO₃ Particles

Abstract:

Dielectric elastomer actuators with high dielectric constant and flexibility were prepared. These actuators were fabricated by the composite of barium titanate (BaTiO₃) and polyester-type thermosetting polyurethane (TSU), which was molecularly-designed to become less hard segment content. In this study, the effects of particle size, volume fraction and manufacturing method of BaTiO₃ were investigated. In addition, the mechanically-stretched effect in composites was also evaluated. It turned out that the electrical breakdown strength increased with the increase of particle size of BaTiO₃ and in volume fraction as well as the use of BaTiO₃ synthesized by the oxalate method. In addition, prestrain of composites also raised the electrical breakdown strength. However, the addition of BaTiO₃ to polyurethane didn’t contribute to the actuation under a lower electric field.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 557-559)
• Pages: 1869-1874
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.557-559.1869
• Online since: July 2012
• Authors: Takeshi Fukuda, Zhi Wei Luo, Aya Ito
• Keywords: Barium Titanate (BT), Dielectric Constant, Dielectric Elastomer Actuators, Electrical Breakdown Strength, Thermosetting Polyurethane

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