Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Enhancement Of Dielectric Permittivity And Electromechanical Response In Silicone Elastomers: Molecular Grafting Of Organic Dipoles To The Macromolecular Network

2011; Wiley; Volume: 21; Issue: 23 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/adfm.201100884

1616-3028

Björn Kussmaul, Sebastian Risse, Guggi Kofod, Rémi Waché, Michael Wegener, Denis N. McCarthy, Hartmut Krüger, Reimund Gerhard,

Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials

A novel method is established for permittivity enhancement of a silicone matrix for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) by molecular level modifications of the elastomer matrix. A push-pull dipole is synthesized to be compatible with the silicone crosslinking chemistry, allowing for direct grafting to the crosslinker molecules in a one-step film formation process. This method prevents agglomeration and yields elastomer films that are homogeneous down to the molecular level. The dipole-to-silicone network grafting reaction is studied by FTIR. The chemical, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of films with dipole contents ranging from 0 wt% to 13.4 wt% were thoroughly characterized. The grafting of dipoles modifies the relative permittivity and the stiffness, resulting in the actuation strain at a given electrical field being improved by a factor of six.