叠层式介电弹性体人工肌肉驱动器:设计、制备与柔性驱动应用

Use of a multilayered dielectric elastomer actuator as a high-performance artificial muscle:Design,fabrication,and applications

介电弹性体驱动器(Dielectric Elastomer Actuator, DEA)具有可与自然肌肉相媲美的优异驱动特性,近些年成为了柔性驱动领域的研究热点之一.鉴于单层DEA存在输出力小、易失稳、结构刚度低,需要预拉伸维持的问题,叠层式介电弹性体驱动器(Multi-Layered Dielectric Elastomer Actuator, MDEA)应运而生.本文归纳了现有的MDEA材料的特性,总结了叠层结构的设计与制备方法,并对其性能进行了比较和分析;介绍了多种适用于MDEA的柔性电极以及对应图案化制备方法;最后对MDEA在柔性器件以及机器人驱动中的应用进行介绍.随着技术的发展,高性能的MDEA势必成为人工肌肉的重要组成部分,并将支撑软体机器人领域的进一步发展.

A dielectric elastomer actuator(DEA)has excellent actuation characteristics comparable to those of a natural muscle.This characteristic has become a hot topic in the field of soft actuators in recent years.A multilayered DEA(MDEA)is an emerging new solution to overcome the drawbacks of low output force,easy instability,poor structural stiffness,and the need for pre-stretch maintenance in a single-layer DEA.This paper introduces the characteristics of various MDEA materials,summarizes the existing design and preparation methods for laminated structures,and compares and analyzes their performance.In addition,this paper summarizes multiple flexible electrodes suitable for MDEA and the corresponding patterning preparation methods,and finally discusses the application of MDEA in many flexible devices and robots.With technological developments,high-performance MDEA can play a critical role as artificial muscles and support the further development of flexible systems,especially in the field of soft robots.