A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers

A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers

Dispersing liquid metal droplets in a soft elastomer matrix yields a composite, called liquid metal embedded elastomer (LMEE), with less modified stiffness but noticeably increased relative permittivity. Stretching and applying voltage through the thickness of the elastomer composite directly, it is...

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Main Authors: Yin Wang, Geng Sun, Juancheng Yang, Ling Zhang, Jinxiong Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2020-01-01
Series:AIP Advances
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5129352
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spelling doaj-7437aa38c06141f7beea3dc057b9f2b92020-11-24T23:17:45ZengAIP Publishing LLCAIP Advances2158-32262020-01-01101015016015016-510.1063/1.5129352A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomersYin Wang0Geng Sun1Juancheng Yang2Ling Zhang3Jinxiong Zhou4State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-hydraulic Engineering in Arid Area, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaState Key Laboratory Base of Eco-hydraulic Engineering in Arid Area, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory for Vibration Control of Aerospace Structures, School of Aerospace, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory for Vibration Control of Aerospace Structures, School of Aerospace, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory for Vibration Control of Aerospace Structures, School of Aerospace, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaDispersing liquid metal droplets in a soft elastomer matrix yields a composite, called liquid metal embedded elastomer (LMEE), with less modified stiffness but noticeably increased relative permittivity. Stretching and applying voltage through the thickness of the elastomer composite directly, it is vulnerable to the loss of being an insulator due to the conductive pathway formed during prestretching. Here, we describe a very simple sandwich structure that enables electromechanical actuation of LMEE. It consists of two very high bonding tapes as skins and a layer of LMEE as the core, making the sandwich all polymeric and thus stretchable. The electromechanical performance of a LMEE made of Ecoflex and Galinstan at various mass ratios was systematically measured. For a typical circular actuation made of the sandwich structure, a 90% areal actuation strain was achieved. Our efforts pave the way for various applications of LMEE.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5129352
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Yin Wang
Geng Sun
Juancheng Yang
Ling Zhang
Jinxiong Zhou
spellingShingle Yin Wang
Geng Sun
Juancheng Yang
Ling Zhang
Jinxiong Zhou
A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
AIP Advances
author_facet Yin Wang
Geng Sun
Juancheng Yang
Ling Zhang
Jinxiong Zhou
author_sort Yin Wang
title A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
title_short A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
title_full A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
title_fullStr A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
title_full_unstemmed A soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
title_sort soft sandwich structure enables voltage-induced actuation of liquid metal embedded elastomers
publisher AIP Publishing LLC
series AIP Advances
issn 2158-3226
publishDate 2020-01-01
description Dispersing liquid metal droplets in a soft elastomer matrix yields a composite, called liquid metal embedded elastomer (LMEE), with less modified stiffness but noticeably increased relative permittivity. Stretching and applying voltage through the thickness of the elastomer composite directly, it is vulnerable to the loss of being an insulator due to the conductive pathway formed during prestretching. Here, we describe a very simple sandwich structure that enables electromechanical actuation of LMEE. It consists of two very high bonding tapes as skins and a layer of LMEE as the core, making the sandwich all polymeric and thus stretchable. The electromechanical performance of a LMEE made of Ecoflex and Galinstan at various mass ratios was systematically measured. For a typical circular actuation made of the sandwich structure, a 90% areal actuation strain was achieved. Our efforts pave the way for various applications of LMEE.
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5129352
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