![]() ![]() Dielectric elastomer transducers are rapidly emerging as high-performance “ pseudo-muscular ” actuators, useful for different kinds of tasks. Within the EAP family, a specific class of materials, known as “ dielectric elastomers ”, is drawing particular interest at present, because of its already demonstrated good overall performance, as well as its simplicity of structure and robustness due to the use of stable and commercially available polymer materials. functional surrogates of natural muscles, aimed at mimicking performances of biological actuation machines. EAP are currently being developed and significantly studied as possible “ artificial muscles ”, i.e. EAP offer the potential for performance exceed-ing other smart materials, while retaining the cost and versatility inherent in polymer materials. While these technologies have addressed niche applications and continue to make incremental improve-ments, newer emerging electromechanical transduction technologies, based on so-called electroactive polymers (EAP), have gained a considerable attention. These materials, often termed “ smart ” or “ intelligent ”, include improved piezoelectrics and magnetostrictive or shape-memory materials. The perceived need for improved transducer performance, which has progressively emerged in the last few decades, has drawn considerable efforts for the develop-ment of devices relying on materials with intrinsic transduction properties. ![]() New electromechanical transducers with high energy output, high strains, high mechanical compliance, lightweight, damage-tolerance and low cost can enable needed advances in a variety of applications, such as robotics, automation and biomedical devices.
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