Polymer‐based flexible actuators have recently attracted significant attention owing to their great potentials in soft robotics, wearables, haptics, and medical devices. In particular, electrically driven polymer‐based flexible actuators are considered as some of the most practical actuators because they can be driven by a simple electrical power source. Over the past decade, research on electrically driven soft actuators has greatly progressed, leading to the development of various functional materials and bioinspired structures. This article comprehensively reviews recent advances in electrically driven soft actuators and compares their actuation performance based on working principles, materials, and structures. Several strategies, including combining smart materials and composite structures, which are proposed to overcome some of the drawbacks of electrically driven soft actuators, are also discussed. Finally, potential applications of electrically driven soft actuators in soft robotics are summarized and an outlook is presented.

A Review of Recent Advances in Electrically Driven Polymer‐Based Flexible Actuators: Smart Materials, Structures, and Their Applications

Stiffness variable materials have been applied in a variety of engineering fields that require adaptation, automatic modulation, and morphing because of their unique property to switch between a rigid, load‐bearing state and a soft, compliant state. Stiffness variable polymers comprising phase‐changing side‐chains (s‐SVPs) have densely grafted, highly crystallizable long alkyl side‐chains in a crosslinked network. Such a bottlebrush network‐like structure gives rise to rigidity modulation as a result of the reversible crystallization and melting of the side chains. The corresponding modulus changes can be more than 1000‐fold within a narrow temperature span, from ≈102 MPa to ≈102 kPa or lower. Other important properties of the s‐SVP, such as stretchability, optical transmittance, and adhesion, can also be altered. This work reviews the underlying molecular mechanisms in the s‐SVP's, discusses the material's structure–property relationship, and summarizes important applications explored so far, including reversible shape transformation, bistable electromechanical transduction, optical modulation, and reversible adhesion.

https://rss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1002/adma.202109798

Stiffness Variable Polymers Comprising Phase‐Changing Side‐Chains: Material Syntheses and Application Explorations

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) artificial muscle is a typical interdisciplinary research category, which has developed by leaps and bounds in the past 20 years, showing great application prospects in various fields. Upon external electrical stimulation, dielectric elastomers (DEs) display large deformation, high energy density and fast response, affording a promising material candidate for soft robotics. Herein, the working mechanisms, commonly used materials as well as the concepts for improving the performance of DEA materials are introduced. Various DEA driven soft robots, including soft grippers, bioinspired artificial arms, crawling/walking/underwater/flying/jumping soft robots and tunable lenses, are then described in detail. Finally, the main challenges of DEA driven soft robots are summarized, and some perspectives for promoting the practical application of DEAs are also proposed. 

Dielectric elastomer actuators for artificial muscles: A comprehensive review of soft robot explorations

Compared to traditional robots, soft robots have more intriguing performance. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are the key components of soft robots. Analyzing various aspects of dielectric elastomer materials and their effects on the electro-mechanical performance of DEA is crucial for enhancing their overall performance. This paper presents a meticulous review of electro-responsive DEAs, with a particular emphasis on analyzing the influence of optimization strategies on the performance of DEAs: filler reinforcement, chemical modification, physical blending, structural design, and other reinforcement techniques. It comprehensively analyzes the application of bio-inspired DEA-based soft robots and provides an outlook on the potential future development directions of DEAs. Through the development of novel dielectric elastomer materials, research on structural optimization methods, establishment of reinforcement mechanisms, and the design of the next generation of soft robots, it is anticipated that DEAs will achieve heightened energy density, augmented electro-responsive deformation, and improved stability in the field of intelligent robotics. This work contributes constructive insights for the construction and widespread applications of DEAs in the future, and is significant for the enhancement of the performance of novel elastomeric materials. 

Large deformation, high energy density dielectric elastomer actuators: Principles, factors, optimization, applications, and prospects

Due to the large strain and fast response characteristics of dielectric elastomers (DEs), they are regarded as a promising alternative for “artificial muscle” applications. Silicone rubber (SR) with good aging resistance, biocompatibility, and high insulation, is considered excellent candidate material for DEs. In this work, conductive polyaniline (PANI) particles were dispersed as dielectric filler to improve the value of dielectric constant (ε), while the silicone oil (SO) was incorporated as a plasticizer for increasing the flexibility of SR DE-based composites. At last, the actuated strain of 30 phr SO/PANI/SR DE-based composite reached the value of 9.5% under 60 kV/mm, which was equivalent to an increase of 265% for the pure SR (2.6%) at the same electric field. Moreover, good durability and mechanical properties were demonstrated for the as-prepared SR DE-based composites, which is of great importance for their long-term use. 

Enhanced actuation performance of silicone rubber via the synergistic effect of polyaniline particles and silicone oil

Soft actuators based on electroactive polymer (EAP) and shape memory polymer (SMP) have drawn increasing attention, whereas EAP and SMP usually are used as independent functional components. In this work, bistable electroactive polymer (BSEP) with tunable modulus that can be actuated by Maxwell pressure was synthesized. The phase-transition points around ambient temperature were tuned by adjusting the ratio of octadecyl acrylate and soft segment. Bilayer structure was adopted by combining BSEP and passive layer to realize out-of-plane actuation. This actuator can maintain actuating shape without continuously applied stimuli when it is at stable states. Ag nanowires network embedded in BSEP was used as heating electrode, along with carbon nanotube network as high-voltage electrode. Finite element analysis and experiment results show that stiff strips parallelly attached to the actuator can effectively control the actuating direction.

Bistable dielectric elastomer actuator with directional motion

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Bistable dielectric elastomer actuator with directional motion