energies

Article
Silicone-Based Membranes as Potential Materials for Dielectric
Electroactive Polymer Actuators
Jakub Bernat 1 , Piotr Gajewski 2 , Jakub Kołota 1, * and Agnieszka Marcinkowska 2

1 Institute of Automatic Control and Robotics, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
2 Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznan, Poland
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: This article includes an overview of the materials and a thorough analysis of the meth-
ods that are used to produce dielectric electroactive actuator membranes. The paper also presents
extensive results from our experimental studies on two types of addition silicone (Silicone Mold
Start 15 and Dragon Skin 10M) that are used to manufacture actuators with different active mem-
branes of thicknesses (165 µm and 300 µm, respectively). This study explored in depth the hardware
architectures and methodologies for manufacturing the selected actuators. The displacements of the
actuators were compared to their responses to two types of voltage excitation: a step response and a
sinusoidal signal with an increasing frequency over time. This paper graphically presents the results
that we obtained for all devices, with a particular emphasis on the resonance frequencies. When
comparing membranes that had the same thickness (165 µm), it was found that the mean amplitude
was higher for silicone membranes with lower values for the Young’s modulus (DS = 0.57 mm and
MS = 0.73 mm). All experiments were repeated for two series of measurements and the results that
were obtained in this study demonstrated the successful implementation of the actuator concepts



that were made from the new types of silicone, which have not yet been used for production.


Citation: Bernat, J.; Gajewski, P.;
Keywords: dielectric electroactive polymer; smart material; silicone membrane; actuator
Kołota, J.; Marcinkowska, A.
Silicone-Based Membranes as
Potential Materials for Dielectric
Electroactive Polymer Actuators.
Energies 2022, 15, 6324. https:// 1. Introduction
doi.org/10.3390/en15176324 Actuators that are made from intelligent materials are playing increasingly important
Academic Editors: Songjing Li and
roles in automation and robotics applications, especially when it is difficult to use classic
Jouni Mattila
actuators. One of the most interesting groups of these devices are dielectric electroactive
actuators (DEAs), which are highly flexible, light and capable of producing small, fast and
Received: 17 July 2022 precise movements or forces [1,2]. Dielectric electroactive polymer (DEAP) materials are a
Accepted: 28 August 2022 unique class of materials that are capable of mechanically responding to electric stimuli or
Published: 30 August 2022
storing electrical energy from mechanical deformations in the same way as capacitors [3,4].
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral DEAP membranes are applied in three types of devices: sensors, generators and
with regard to jurisdictional claims in actuators. Their application in sensors has been described in a number of studies [5–7].
published maps and institutional affil- DEAP membranes allow sensors to sense stretch, displacement and force. The flexibility
iations. of sensors is useful for a wide range of applications, such as in biomedical and robotics
devices [6,7]. DEAP membranes also allow advanced generators to be built, as presented
in [8–10]. Last but not least, there are DEAP actuators, which can produce different kinds
of movement. The most popular actuators are ring-shaped actuators with bias (e.g., mass,
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
spring, permanent magnet, pneumatic, etc.) [11–13]. However, other shapes are also
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
popular, such as rectangular and non-uniform actuators [14]. All of the mentioned devices
This article is an open access article
have been extensively developed in scientific laboratories but have also been applied to
distributed under the terms and
practical scenarios, for instance in [15–17]. It is possible to apply DEAP actuators in the
conditions of the Creative Commons
field of fluid power systems, e.g., as pumps for soft robotics [18].
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
The crucial aspects of the above devices are the DEAP membranes and their properties.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
The most common way to produce DEAP materials is to use flexible polymeric membranes

Energies 2022, 15, 6324. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15176324 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

Energies 2022, 15, 6324 2 of 9

with high permittivity, high dielectric breakdown strength, high dielectric constants and
low mechanical Young’s modulus values with high mechanical strength [19,20]. The rela-
tionships between these factors are important features in the design of DEAP membranes.
These factors can be controlled by using different types of polymers, such as silicone, acry-
late (VHB), polyisoprene (natural) or polyurethane rubbers [21,22] and additive materials
(e.g., carbon powder, nanotubes and silver nanowires), or by controlling the thickness of
the membranes. It is worth mentioning that decreasing the thickness causes the membranes
to become more flexible; however, it also decreases the electric strength. It should be
emphasized that the advantages of using polymers for the preparation of DEAP materials
include their moderate price, lightness and resistance to corrosion, as well as the ease of
processing them to obtain the various required shapes. Acrylic rubbers can produce high
voltage-induced strain but, unfortunately, these materials are non-homogeneous due to
microgel formation during the cross-linking polymerization process and are characterized
by viscoelastic nonlinearities. In turn, this mainly affects the response times of the DEAP
materials. Compared to acrylic rubbers, silicone elastomers have lower viscoelasticity,
which allows them to work at higher frequencies [23]. In addition, they are susceptible to
significant deformations [24] but they also easily return to their original shapes. Silicones
are resistant to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and oxidation and they are chemically and
thermally stable. Their mechanical properties remain stable within a wide temperature
range, i.e., from −40 °C to 200 °C [25]. Silicone elastomers are the most frequently used
polymeric matrices since they are characterized by fast response times and low (viscoelastic)
hysteresis [26].
In general, DEAP actuators are made from flexible membranes with two electrodes. A
detailed description of the production process is provided in [3,27]. For scientific purposes,
the electrodes can also be produced using carbon grease [28]. Finally, two metal connections
are added to provide the electric connection to the external voltage amplifier. The main goal
of this work was to show the features of DEAP actuators that were made using a new type
of silicone. In this study, commercially available industrial silicone materials were used for
the production of dielectric electroactive actuators with different membrane thicknesses
and this aspect was found to potentially have further significance for the commercialization
of industrial results. The DEAP actuators that were produced had different thicknesses and
were experimentally tested to evaluate their properties. The structure of this paper is as
follows. First, Section 2 describes the materials and methods that were used to produce and
study the DEAP actuators. Next, Section 3 presents the experimental results and discussion.
Finally, the conclusions are also presented.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Materials
The DEAP actuators that are presented in this work were made from a silicone mem-
brane that had carbon-based electrodes attached to it. The list of silicones that were used is
presented in Table 1, together with their properties. As a carbon conductive grease (i.e., a
mixture of silicone oil and carbon) was used, which was characterized by the following
parameters: a density of 1.1 g/mL, a viscosity of 80.3 Pa · s and a resistivity of 63 Ω · cm.
In this work, the silicone membranes were mounted on a rigid poly(methyl methacrylate)
PMMA frame (Plexiglass® ). The dimensions of the frame and the actuators are shown
in Table 2. The final list of materials that were used to build the DEAP actuators was as
follows:
• Silicone Mold Start 15 and Dragon Skin 10M (Smooth-On, Inc.);
• Carbon conductive grease (MG Chemicals 846);
• Copper tape;
• Rigid PMMA frame (Plexiglass® ).
Energies 2022, 15, 6324 3 of 9

Table 1. A summary of the silicone parameters.

Parameter Mold Start 15 Dragon Skin 10M

Modulus 15 Psi 22 Psi
Mixed Viscosity 12,500 cPs 23,000 cPs
Tensile Strength 400 Psi 475 Psi
Specific Gravity 1.18 g/cc 1.07 g/cc
Elongation at Breaks 440 % 1000 %
Shrinkage <0.001 in./in. <0.001 in./in.

Table 2. A summary of the PMMA frame dimensions.

Parameter Dimension
Internal Diameter 70 mm
External Diameter 84 mm
Silicone Membrane Diameter 100 mm

2.2. Methods
The silicone membranes were prepared using two poly-addition silicones: Dragon
Skin 10M and Mold Start 15. These types of silicone are formed by a polyaddition chemical
reaction. The silicone mixtures were prepared by mixing two silicone components at a
weight ratio of 1:1. Then, the silicone mixtures were degassed using a vacuum to avoid
any air bubbles and holes forming during the membrane sheet preparation. The silicone
membranes were prepared using a 100 µm poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) sheet as a
support. Firstly, the surface of the casting table (Bevs 1811/3) and the bottom part of the PET
sheet were cleaned using ethanol. Then, the PET sheet was placed on the casting table, fixed
using the vacuum and the top surface of the PET sheet was cleaned using ethanol. Next,
15 g of the silicone mixtures was applied to the PET sheet using a micrometer adjustable
film applicator and then the coating was prepared (Figure 1). The silicone cast layers
were left for 24 h in order for the silicone cross-linking to occur and the membranes to be
obtained. Finally, two different membrane thicknesses for each silicone type were prepared
and used for the preparation of the DEAP actuators. In the remainder of this paper, the
names of the silicone membranes are denoted as MS (Mold Start 15) and DS (Dragon Skin
10M), with the measured membrane thickness as a suffix (i.e., 300 µm or 165 µm).

Figure 1. The automatic film applicator (Bevs 1811/3; BEVS Industrial Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China)
that was used to produce the silicone films.

The DEAP actuators were produced using the prepared silicone membranes with
the following steps. First, the silicone membranes were applied to a circular rigid PMMA
frame. Then, two metal electrodes were glued to the silicone membranes using sticky tape,
Energies 2022, 15, 6324 4 of 9

which enabled the external voltage connection. Finally, the electrodes were connected to
each side of the actuators using carbon conductive grease.
The principle of operation of DEAP actuators has been presented in detail in a number
of works [4,29,30]. When an external electric charge is applied to the electrodes, the elec-
trostatic attraction between the opposite charges of both electrodes generates electrostatic
stress and pressure on the film, thereby causing it to reduce in thickness while expanding in
area. Figure 2a,b graphically show how actuator membranes stretch as a result of applied
voltage. In this study, we analyzed the voltage to displacement to obtain information about
how the DEAP actuators were working.
VOLTAGE OFF

DEAP MEMBR ANE

ANE MASS DEAP MEMBR
FRAME FRAME

(a)

VOLTAGE ON

displacemet
FRAME DE E FRAME
AP RAN
ME
M MB
BR ME
AN P
E DEA

MASS

(b)

Figure 2. A diagram of a DEAP actuator: (a) with the power off (non-deflected state) and (b) with the
power on (deflected state).

In this study, the DEAP actuators were assembled on a laboratory stand that had an
aluminum structure, as shown in Figure 3. The forcing signals were set by a PC using
a dedicated measurement card. A detailed description of the hardware architecture can
be found in [4], which included a high-voltage amplifier (Trek 10/10B-HS), a laser sensor
(Micro Epsilon optoNCDT 1320-10) and a data acquisition board. The DEAP cylinders were
loaded with external masses. The voltage was applied as excitation and the distance was
measured after a 1 ms sampling time.

Figure 3. The laboratory setup with a DEAP actuator.

In the first part of the experiment, the capacity of the individual actuators was mea-
sured. The results of these measurements are summarized in Table 3. Based on the obtained
Energies 2022, 15, 6324 5 of 9

capacity values, the relative permittivity values er for all of the actuators were estimated
using Equation (1):
C
er = (1)
C0
where C is the capacity that was measured using a multimeter (LCR700 SANWA) and
C0 = e0 Sd is the capacity of the parallel plate capacitor in a vacuum. In the next stage of
the experiment, the DEAP actuators were subjected to two types of voltage excitation: a
step response and a sinusoidal signal with increasing frequency over time (chirp signal).
The excitation voltage range was experimentally defined so as to avoid causing damage to
the actuator diaphragms from overvoltage. Figure 4a shows the step response in the range
from 0 kV to 1.5 kV, while Figure 4b shows the initial fragment of the chirp excitation, the
definition of which is shown in Equation (2):

u(t) = uc + u a sin(2π f (t)t)

 t (2)
f 1 t1
f (t) = f 0 ·
f0
where uc is the constant voltage and u a is the voltage amplitude. The displacements that
were measured during the chirp excitation were processed using the Butterworth filter with
a bass band from 2.5 Hz to 100 Hz. Next, the maximum displacement was calculated from
the excitation window, the length of which was equal to the period of the signal (which
varied with the chirp signal).

1.4 1.4
1.2 1.2
1.0 1.0
input voltage (kV)

input voltage (kV)

0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0 2 4 6 8 10
time (s) time (s)
(a) (b)

Figure 4. The input voltage that was used to obtain (a) the step response and (b) the beginning of the
chirp excitation.

Table 3. A summary of the capacity and relative permittivity of the actuators.

Silicone Membrane Thickness Capacity (pF) Relative Permittivity (1)

DS 300 µm 392.7 3.40
DS 165 µm 613.4 3.02
MS 300 µm 390.1 3.50
MS 165 µm 691.9 3.36

3. Results and Discussion

Firstly, the capacity of the fabricated actuators was measured, as described in Section 2.2.
The results are shown in Table 3. It was found that the capacity strongly depended on
the thickness of the actuators. The differences between the two types of silicone were
insignificant.
Secondly, the response to the voltage excitation was measured and the results are
presented in Figures 5 and 6. The step response in the excitation allowed us to analyze the
intensity of the actuator oscillations and their stabilization times. Both types of silicone that
were used to make the actuator membranes were tested: Figure 5a,b show the responses
Energies 2022, 15, 6324 6 of 9

of the actuators that were made from Dragon Skin 10M silicone with the two thicknesses
(165 µm and 300 µm, respectively); Figure 5c,d present the responses of the actuators that
were made from Mold Start 15 silicone with the two thicknesses (165 µm and 300 µm,
respectively). The convergence of the measurements for all of the samples (Figure 5a–d)
guaranteed the correct course of the experiment. Furthermore, each experiment was
conducted twice (denoted as Try 1 and Try 2). It could be seen that the actuators that were
made from the thicker silicone were characterized by smaller deflections. Furthermore,
the actuator that was made from Dragon Skin 10M silicone (165 µm) responded to greater
deflections for the same input voltage and its oscillation damping time was shorter than
the Mold Start 15 silicone actuator (165 µm). The reason for the difference in damping time
was the higher Young’s modulus value of the Dragon Skin 10M silicone.

ds-165 m, no. try 1 ds-300 m, no. try 1 ds-165 m, no. try 1 ds-300 m, no. try 1
0.4 ds-165 m, no. try 2 ds-300 m, no. try 2 0.4 ds-165 m, no. try 2 ds-300 m, no. try 2
output distance y (mm)

output distance y (mm)

0.3 0.3

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1

0.0 0.0

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
time (s) time (s)
(a) (b)

ms-165 m, no. try 1 ms-300 m, no. try 1 ms-165 m, no. try 1 ms-300 m, no. try 1
0.4 ms-165 m, no. try 2 ms-300 m, no. try 2 0.4 ms-165 m, no. try 2 ms-300 m, no. try 2
output distance y (mm)
output distance y (mm)

0.3 0.3

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1

0.0 0.0

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
time (s) time (s)
(c) (d)

Figure 5. The displacement response of the DEAP actuators to step response excitation: (a) DS
silicone, sample 1; (b) DS silicone, sample 2; (c) MS silicone, sample 1; (d) MS silicone, sample 2.

In the subsequent measurements, the voltage excitation was a sinusoidal signal that
increased in frequency over time, as defined in Equation (2). The experiment was carried
out in this to enable an in-depth analysis of the frequency domain of the device operation.
Regarding the voltage input, various membrane thicknesses were tested through two series
of measurements for each actuator. The aim was to find the resonance frequencies and
measure the amplitudes of the individual actuators for a sinusoidal signal with a resonant
frequency. The results are presented in Table 4. Figure 6a,c show that for the resonant
frequency, the actuators that were made from Mold Start 15 silicone had larger distance
amplitudes than the actuators that were made from Dragon Skin 10M. Figure 6b,d show
that the actuators that were 165 µm thick deformed slightly less during the second series
of measurements than during the first series while the actuators that were 300 µm thick
deformed very similarly during both series.
As shown in Table 4, when comparing membranes that had the same thickness, the
mean amplitude was higher for silicone membranes with lower Young’s modulus values.
Further, the decrease in thickness caused an increase in the amplitude of movement. In
general, the responses were similar to those from DEAP actuators that have been presented
Energies 2022, 15, 6324 7 of 9

in the literature [4,29]. The step responses consisted of initial oscillations and long relaxation
times. The responses to sinusoidal signals also showed resonances around 10 Hz, which
were similar the results that have been presented in the literature [4,29].

ds-165 m, no. try 1 ds-165 m, no. try 1

0.6 ds-165 m, no. try 2 ds-165 m, no. try 2
0.5
ds-300 m, no. try 1 ds-300 m, no. try 1
0.5

amplitude of distance (mm)

amplitude of distance (mm) ds-300 m, no. try 2 ds-300 m, no. try 2
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2

0.1 0.1

0.0 0.0
5 10 15 20 25 5 10 15 20 25
frequency of chirp (Hz) frequency of chirp (Hz)
(a) (b)

0.8 ms-165 m, no. try 1 0.7 ms-165 m, no. try 1

0.7 ms-165 m, no. try 2 ms-165 m, no. try 2
ms-300 m, no. try 1 0.6 ms-300 m, no. try 1
amplitude of distance (mm)

amplitude of distance (mm)

0.6 ms-300 m, no. try 2 ms-300 m, no. try 2
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1
0.0 0.0
5 10 15 20 25 5 10 15 20 25
frequency of chirp (Hz) frequency of chirp (Hz)
(c) (d)

Figure 6. The displacement response of the DEAP actuators to chirp excitation: (a) DS silicone,
sample 1; (b) DS silicone, sample 2; (c) MS silicone, sample 1; (d) MS silicone, sample 2.
Table 4. A summary of the resonance amplitudes.

Silicone Mean (mm) Standard Deviation (mm)

DS 165 µm 0.57 0.04
DS 300 µm 0.30 0.02
MS 165 µm 0.73 0.06
MS 300 µm 0.35 0.01

The DEAP actuators that are presented in this work demonstrated the same kind of
responses as the other actuators that have been presented in the literature [12,29]. The
frequency characteristics slowly increased to a resonance level that was around a few Hertz,
with strong damping effects above that level. The step responses were also similar, but
with low damping effects that caused oscillations. Furthermore, the resonance responses
of the tested actuators were in the range from 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm, which showed that the
actuators could be practically useful. In the future, the influence of additional components
that could increase permittivity should be analyzed, as in [31,32].

4. Conclusions
The field of smart materials is developing very dynamically, which has enabled these
materials to be adapted for use in sensors and actuators. In this study, two types of silicone
that are available within the industry were used to produce dielectric actuators, which were
supplemented with carbon electrodes. Precise membranes for dielectric actuators were
produced using these types of silicone, which have not yet been presented in the literature.
Our experiments were performed with the use of the most modern research equipment
and the results were confirmed by two series of measurements. This study could be a
Energies 2022, 15, 6324 8 of 9

starting point for research on the use of dielectric actuators that are made from commonly
available materials.

Author Contributions: J.B., experimental data acquisition and processing, project administration and
writing manuscript; P.G., actuator preparation and writing manuscript; J.K., actuator development,
electrical experiments and writing manuscript; A.M., actuator preparation and writing manuscript.
All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the Ministry of Education and Science under grant number
0211/SIGR/6434.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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