P-48 Evaluation of the Electrical Resistance and Capacitance of a Dielectric Electro-Active Polymer

Buller Hallway

Dielectric ElectroActive Polymers (DEAP) have the potential of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. DEAP consists of a silicone dielectric film material with a special corrugated surface and a very thin layer of metallic electrodes on both sides of the surface allowing for large mechanical deformations with low operating forces. This work examined the electrical properties of DEAP, in which the capacitance and the electrode resistance were affected by repeated stress relaxation cycles. Three samples of 25% strain DEAP were subjected to 3000 stress relaxation cycles at 4%, 10%, and 20% strain. The capacitance of each sample and the resistance of one electrode layer were measured in both the relaxed position and the stressed position, once per interval. The 4% sample did not indicate any changes up to 3000 stress cycles, but resistance increased uniformly by about 2%. The 10% stress sample’s capacitance and resistance had an increase of 6% and 4% respectively at 3000 cycles. The increase, although appearing to jump slightly between 1000 and 1500 cycles, seems otherwise uniform. Overall, there was a small increase in the capacitance of the DEAP sample after the 3000 stress cycles but the capacitance never went above 2nF.