title: Rontgen's electrode-free elastomer actuators without electromechanical pull-in instability.
abstract: Electrical actuators made from films of dielectric elastomers coated on both sides with stretchable electrodes may potentially be applied in microrobotics, tactile and haptic interfaces, as well as in adaptive optical elements. Such actuators with compliant electrodes are sensitive to the pull-in electromechanical instability, limiting operational voltages and attainable deformations. Electrode-free actuators driven by sprayed-on electrical charges were first studied by Röntgen in 1880. They withstand much higher voltages and deformations and allow for electrically clamped (charge-controlled) thermodynamic states preventing electromechanical instabilities. The absence of electrodes allows for direct optical monitoring of the actuated elastomer, as well as for designing new 3D actuator configurations and adaptive optical elements.
authors.affiliation: Soft-Matter Physics, Johannes Kepler University, Altenbergerstrasse 69, A-4040 Linz, Austria. christoph.keplinger@jku.at
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keplinger
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaltenbrunner
authors.forename: Nikita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bauer
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D020724:Elastomers; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D055672:Static Electricity; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D020724:Elastomers