Design strategies for low-voltage dielectric elastomer actuators from materials to systems

초록

Dielectric elastomer actuators enable large strain and fast response, but their adoption is limited by the driving voltage at the kV level, which hinders safety, miniaturization, and system integration. This review summarizes recent strategies for achieving sub-kV operation across the material, structure, and system levels. At the material level, we review approaches to increase dielectric permittivity and reduce the modulus of elasticity, including filler incorporation, polar group engineering, plasticization, and molecular architecture design. Structural paths such as thinning and multilayer stacking of dielectric films and compliant electrode techniques that maintain low electrical resistance even under large deformation are discussed. We also review power supply and control strategies including resonance-based operation, integrated switching, and compact high-voltage conversion. The key trade-offs associated with low-voltage operation, such as dielectric breakdown, leakage losses, electrodeinduced stiffening, and defect sensitivity in thin films, are compared, and an outlook is provided for applications in untethered soft robots, micro aerial vehicles, and portable microfluidic systems.

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