High energy density interpenetrating networks from ionic networks and silicone

Abstract

© 2015 SPIE. The energy density of dielectric elastomers (DEs) is sought increased for better exploitation of the DE technology since an increased energy density means that the driving voltage for a certain strain can be lowered in actuation mode or alternatively that more energy can be harvested in generator mode. One way to increase the energy density is to increase dielectric permittivity of the elastomer. A novel silicone elastomer system with high dielectric permittivity was prepared through the development of interpenetrating networks from ionically assembled silicone polymers and covalently crosslinked silicones. The system has many degrees of freedom since the ionic network is formed from two polymers (amine and carboxylic acid functional, respectively) of which the chain lengths can be varied, as well as the covalent silicone elastomer with many degrees of freedom arising from amongst many the varying content of silica particles. A parameter study is performed to elucidate which compositions are most favorable for the use as dielectric elastomers. The elastomers were furthermore shown to be self-repairing upon electrical breakdown.