Electrical breakdown phenomena of dielectric elastomers

Abstract

Silicone elastomers have been heavily investigated as candidates for dielectric elastomers and are as such almost ideal candidates with their inherent softness and compliance but they suffer from low dielectric permittivity. This shortcoming has been sought optimized by many means during recent years. However, optimization with respect to the dielectric permittivity solely may lead to other problematic phenomena such as premature electrical breakdown. In this work, we investigate the electrical breakdown phenomena of various types of permittivity-enhanced silicone elastomers. Two types of silicone elastomers are investigated and different types of breakdown are discussed. Furthermore the use of voltage stabilizers in silicone-based dielectric elastomers is investigated and discussed.