Dielectric Elastomer Composites Research Articles

Enhanced Electromechanical Properties of Nitrile Rubber Dielectric Elastomer Composites by SrTiO3‐PPy‐PCPA Multilayer Core‐Shell Hybrids Construction

AbstractIn order to obtain high dielectric properties nitrile rubber (NBR) dielectric elastomer composites, in this work, polypyrrole (PPy) was encapsulated on the surface of SrTiO3 (STO) ceramic particles, and an insulating layer of poly (catechol/polyamine) (PCPA) was also covered on the outer surface of the STO‐PPy core‐shell particles (denoted as STO‐PPy‐PCPA particles), then the dielectric elastomer composites were prepared by adding STO and STO‐PPy‐PCPA to NBR, respectively. Due to the electrical conductivity of PPy, the dielectric constant of the STO‐PPy‐PCPA particles increases substantially. At the same time, the insulating layer of PCPA further prevents current leakage from the composite, which not only avoids premature electrical breakdown but also effectively reduces the dielectric loss. Compared with pure NBR, the dielectric constant of the prepared dielectric elastomer composites increased from 13 to 17.19 (20 phr STO‐PPy‐PCPA/NBR), and the actuated strain increased from 3.28 % to 13.86 % (5 phr STO‐PPy‐PCPA/NBR), which is 4.2 times that of pure NBR. This work successfully solves the current problems of requiring a large amount of ceramics to improve the dielectric constant and the tendency of conductive particles to agglomerate and premature breakdown.

Trapping Ions to Enhance High-Field Energy Harvesting Performance by Filling Polar Macromolecular Dielectrics.

In the quest for sustainable and renewable energy sources, researchers and engineers have explored innovative technologies to harvest energy from various environmental sources. Dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs) with high energy harvesting performance have been proven to be promising energy collectors, but achieving a high dielectric constant (ε') and low electrical conductivity (EC) under high electric fields of dielectric elastomer (DE) simultaneously is a struggle, which poses significant challenges. In this study, high-content carboxyl group-grafted liquid polybutadiene (HCPB) is synthesized and then adopted as an organic dielectric filler to blend and cocross-link with a butadiene rubber (BR) matrix to prepare DE composites with high energy harvesting performance. The introduction of carboxyl groups enhances polarization while trapping free Al3+ in the matrix, which revolutionarily achieves a significant increase in ε' under extremely low EC. Ultimately, the contradiction between increased ε' and decreased EC under high electric fields is reconciled, resulting in a 30 HCPB/BR composite with high energy density (w = 91.9 mJ/cm3) and fine power conversion efficiency (PCE = 24.1%). This advancement paves the way for the development of HCPB/BR composite-based DEGs with enhanced ε' and energy harvesting performance.

Tailoring molecular structure and electromechanical properties of polydimethylsiloxane elastomer for enhanced energy conversion efficiency

AbstractThe molecular structure of dielectric elastomers dictates their mechanical, electrical, and properties to react under external stimuli, influencing their suitability for applications such as actuators, sensors, and energy harvesting devices. The molecular structure of polymers can be tailored by incorporating plasticizers and particulate fillers to achieve multifunctional properties. However, achieving a balance between flexibility and maintaining mechanical strength due to incorporation of fillers induced phase separation and compromised intermolecular interactions remains challenging. In the present work, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites are synthesized using plasticizer and particulate fillers, polyethylene glycol (H‐(OCH2CH2)nOH) and titanium diboride (TiB2) respectively in various concentrations using shear mixing and doctor blade casting technique. Molecular structure of synthesized PDMS composite is confirmed by observing peaks of Raman spectra sift, which exhibits robust CO bonds dominating for both fillers. Chain entanglement due to filler incorporation significantly affects the crosslink density of PDMS composite, it increases with the concentration of plasticizer and possesses inverse relation for particulate. Furthermore, interdependence of the filler types and concentration are found on the mechanical as well as electrical properties. The specific deformation energy exhibits a significant increase of 118.9% when comparing particulate to the plasticizer at concentration of 8 wt.%. Although plasticizer increases the actuation strain and energy conversion efficiency but decreases the electrical breakdown voltage in comparison to particulate. By systematically varying fillers concentration, subtle changes in multifunctional properties are achieved. Overall, this investigation provides a framework for tailoring dielectric elastomer composites with desired electromechanical characteristics through the amalgamation of filler types and crosslinking densities, all intricately tied to the molecular architecture for electromechanical sensors.Highlights Filler incorporation changes DE molecular structure and materials properties. Formation of additional bonds and micro‐capacitors in DE enhances capacitance. Actuation strain in DE depends on filler type and concentration. Energy conversion efficiency varies with the concentration of filler.

Effects of boron nitride nanoplates on the dielectric and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes/silicone rubber composites

AbstractCarbon nanotubes (CNTs) have aroused great attentions in silicone rubber (SR) composites due to the excellent electrical and mechanical properties. However, the distribution of CNTs is not ideal because of the agglomeration effect of nanomaterials. Incorporating different dimensional nanofillers may be a solution. In this work, two‐dimensional boron nitride (BN) was added to fabricate CNTs/BN/SR composites. The results showed that BN could benefit the dispersion of CNTs and improve the dielectric and mechanical behaviors of the composites. Large dielectric constant (5.35, 92% more than pure SR) with extremely low loss tangent (0.00108) was obtained in the SR composites incorporated with 2 wt% CNTs and 5 wt% BN. High tensile stress (836 kPa) and elongation at break (332%) were also achieved, with a low elastic modulus of 557 kPa. Besides, the CNTs/BN/SR composites had thermal stability up to 400°C. Thus, enhanced dielectric and mechanical properties were achieved in CNTs/BN/SR composites by incorporating different dimensional nanofillers, which have great potential applications in dielectric elastomer composites.

Highly Transparent and Long‐Term Stable Dielectric Elastomer Composites Enabled by Poly(ionic liquid) Inclusion

AbstractThe demand for high‐performance flexible electronic devices has propelled research toward dielectric elastomer composites that exhibit excellent stretchability, high dielectric constant, exceptional transparency, and enduring stability. Compositing with soft fillers is an emerging method that can increase the dielectric constant of the materials while retaining good flexibility. However, liquid metals inclusion results in opaque composites while liquid electrolytes inclusion brings issues with long‐term stability. In this study, compositing polymeric ionic liquids with elastomeric matrix is proposed to address these requisites. Benefiting from adjustable refractive index, high ionic conductivity, softness, and excellent stability, the prepared dielectric elastomer composites exhibit remarkable transparency, excellent elasticity, and increased dielectric constants. Notably, the composites demonstrate resilience to high temperatures up to 250 °C without compromising dielectric or mechanical properties. Furthermore, the composites retain all properties after prolonged exposure at 80 °C for 6 months, highlighting the potential for sustained performance in real‐world applications. Utilizing the exceptional characteristics of polymeric ionic liquid including dielectric elastomers, strain sensors, and alternating current electroluminescence devices are demonstrated, which also presents excellent stability over prolonged use, emphasizing the reliability and long‐term stability of the composites, and showcasing potentials for multifaceted applications in flexible electronics.

A dual cone actuator with high energy density and long fatigue life by developing a nano-silica reinforced dielectric elastomer composite

Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is considered as one of the most promising soft actuators due to its light weight, good flexibility, high actuated strain and energy density. Herein, a novel DEA material is developed by introducing a kind of SiO2 nanoparticles with strong interfacial polarizability into polydimethyl(methylvinyl) siloxane (PMVS). The 7.5 SiO2/PMVS DEA exhibits a high actuated strain of 31.3 % and blocked stress of 68.4 kPa, 2.4 and 2.9 times of pure PMVS DEA. A dual cone DEA (DCDEA) device was self-designed by using 7.5 SiO2/PMVS films, which possesses a high actuated displacement of 1.3 mm, output force of 0.3 N and energy density of 4.7 J/kg. More importantly, because of the high elasticity and strong interfacial interaction, the 7.5 SiO2/PMVS DCDEA exhibits a long fatigue life of 500,000 times, resulting in a full-life energy density of 2.3 × 106 J/kg, 39 times higher than that of the VHB based DCDEA.

Nonlinear electromechanical responses in multi-layered fiber-reinforced dielectric elastomer composites

The capabilities of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) across various applications of soft smart materials constantly expands. However, the electromechanical behavior of multi-layer anisotropic dielectric elastomer composites (DECs), has not been studied accurately despite of its great potentials. Hence, this paper proposes a comprehensive coupled electromechanical model to address this issue and effectively capture various attributes of such an actuator including the number of layers and layers’ configuration. Using a coupled nonlinear model enables it to analyze multi-layer DECs with an unlimited number of layers, and reinforcing fiber families. A new user defined material subroutine is developed to explore the actuation performance of different multi-layer DECs such as binder, diaphragm, and tubular actuators. It provides a unique insight into effects of the number and arrangement of layers on the electromechanical performance of these actuators. Experimental results have been used for validation of developed model and numerical implementation. The results propose a practical tool for designing and optimizing fiber-reinforced multi-layer DECs based on objective purposes, contributing to developing more efficient and reliable electromechanical models for these materials.

In silico optimization of actuation performance in dielectric elastomer composites via integrated finite element modeling and deep learning

Dielectric elastomers (DEs) require balanced electric actuation performance and mechanical integrity under applied voltages. Incorporating high dielectric particles as fillers provides extensive design space to optimize concentration, morphology, and distribution for improved actuation performance and material modulus. This study presents an integrated framework combining finite element modeling (FEM) and deep learning to optimize the microstructure of DE composites. FEM first calculates actuation performance and the effective modulus across varied filler combinations, with these data used to train a convolutional neural network (CNN). Integrating the CNN into a multi-objective genetic algorithm generates designs with enhanced actuation performance and material modulus compared to the conventional optimization approach based on FEM approach within the same time. This framework harnesses artificial intelligence to navigate vast design possibilities, enabling optimized microstructures for high-performance DE composites.

Nonlinear dynamics of ionic liquid enhanced soft composite membrane under electro-mechanical loading

The incorporation of ionic liquids (ILs) into dielectric elastomer composites has attracted significant interest due to their potential applications in soft actuators and optical devices. Their soft and hyperelastic nature make them a distinct dynamic. In this paper, nonlinear dynamics of IL enhanced soft composite (ILESC) dielectric membrane subjected to electro-mechanical loading is investigated. A mixed micromechanical model with the incorporation of an electric double layer (EDL) and Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) polarization is developed to estimate mechanical and electrical properties of the ILESC. Governing equations are derived via an energy method with the framework of the hyperelastic membrane theory, Neo-Hookean constitutive model and the couple dielectric theory. These equations are discretized by Taylor series expansion (TSE) and differential quadrature (DQ) methods and are solved by incremental harmonic balance (IHB) method combined with arc-length technique. The developed model and results are verified by comparing to experimental data and previous results. The influence of volume fraction, shape and size of IL fillers, static and dynamic applied electric field and excitation amplitude on forced vibration and resonant response of the ILESC membrane are comprehensively analyzed. It is found that ILESC membrane with slender ellipsoidal ILs displays larger amplitude, lower peak amplitude frequency and more obvious softening behavior.

Nonlinear free vibration analysis of ionic liquid enhanced soft composite membrane

Due to their electromechanical coupling properties, ionic liquid (IL)-enhanced dielectric elastomer composites are promising for applications in soft robotics and implantable actuators. However, their structural vibration behaviors subjected to electric fields remain unclear. This work investigates the nonlinear vibration of IL-enhanced soft composite (ILESC) membranes subjected to electric loading through theoretical modeling and numerical simulation. The effective properties of ILESC membrane are determined by a developed micromechanical model considering the physical mechanisms as involved. Governing equations for the nonlinear vibration of a pre-stretched circular membrane made of ionic liquid/poly (dimethylsiloxane) (IL/PDMS) are established, which are solved by Taylor series expansion (TSE) and differential quadrature (DQ) methods. The developed model and numerical results are verified by comparing present results to existing studies and finite element analysis. The influences of the size of the membrane, the direct current (DC) voltage and alternating current (AC) frequency of the electric field, and the attributes of the IL fillers and matrix on the nonlinear vibration of the structure are investigated. The voltage-induced nonlinearity is highly sensitive to the content, size and shape of the IL fillers. The performances of the structure within various AC frequency bands can be tuned by changing the geometry of the IL fillers as well as the surface charge density of the matrix. This study aims to provide guidelines for predicting and optimizing the structural behaviors of ILESC membranes, accelerating their applications in engineering demanding flexibility and voltage-dependent responses.

Preparation and characterization of CNTs/CaCu3Ti4O12/silicone rubber composites with improved dielectric and mechanical properties

AbstractThe dielectric performance of Silicone rubber (SR) composites can be significantly enhanced by carbon nanotubes. However, carbon nanotubes are easy to agglomerate in the polymer matrix. Adding low‐dimensional materials of different dimensions may be a solution. In this article, one‐dimensional multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and zero‐dimensional copper calcium titanate (CaCu3Ti4O12, CCTO) ceramic fillers were simultaneously added to prepare silicone dielectric elastomer composites. SEM results showed that the CNTs were distributed uniformly in the SR matrix due to the addition of CCTO. When 2 wt% CNTs and 10 wt% CCTO were added, the dielectric constant of the composite increased from 2.79 (pure silicone rubber) to 5.72, with a low loss tangent of 0.0012. Due to the uniform dispersion of CNTs with the addition of CCTO particles, dielectric performance of the composites were enhanced. The tensile stress was 986 kPa, the elongation at break was 333%, while the elastic modulus was not more than 613 kPa (2 wt% CNTs and 5 wt% CCTO in the SR composite). In addition, the composites had a wide temperature range up to 400°C. Therefore, the prepared CNTs/CCTO/SR composites have good dielectric and mechanical properties, and good thermal stability. It has a good reference value for this kind of composites as dielectric elastomer materials.

Electromechanical performance of dielectric elastomer composites: Modeling and experimental characterization

Dielectric Elastomer (DE) devices have gained widespread attention in recent years for their ability to generate large, reversible strains in response to electric actuation. However, some DE materials exhibit a viscoelastic nature that detracts from their electromechanical performance in applications requiring precise time-dependent actuation. This study presents an investigation into the feasibility of using multilayered DE composites, comprising commercially available acrylic-based VHB 4905 and natural rubber membranes, to overcome the viscoelastic effects. A comparison of the electromechanical performance of bi-layer and tri-layer DE composites with that of a mono-layer VHB 4910 membrane is carried out through numerical and experimental methods. We present a theoretical model of the DE composite-based bulging actuator, using an energy-based approach and the assumption of homogeneous deformations. The model predicts the time-dependent deflection of the inflated/deflated multilayered DE composites, taking into account the effect of the intervening air column. The predictive capabilities of the model are validated through experiments under both DC and AC operating conditions, and the electromechanical performance of the DE composites is examined for various actuation responses such as resonance, creep, and hysteresis. The bi-layer DE composite is found to be superior in terms of actuation levels, reduced hysteresis, and reduced creep response. The findings of this study hold promise for the development of DE materials with improved actuation capabilities while maintaining dielectric breakdown strength.

Improved electrical actuation and dielectric strength of rubber composites with polydopamine noncovalent and silane covalent modification of carbon nanotube

AbstractA dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is regarded as an intelligent actuator that can reproduce the performance of human muscle. A core–shell structured dielectric filler is synthesized by modifying carbon nanotube (CNT) with polydopamine (PDA) noncovalently and 3‐mercaptopropyl ethyoxyldi (tridecyl‐pentaethoxy) silane (Si747) covalently, designated as PDA‐Si747@CNT. Then, the filler is incorporated into an epoxy natural rubber (ENR) matrix to yield dielectric elastomer composites, denoted as PDA‐Si747@CNT/ENR. The PDA and Si747 modifications improve not only the filler dispersion but also the dielectric strength of the ENR composites. More importantly, Si747 is involved in vulcanization and provides chemical bonds between CNT and ENR chains. The maximum actuated strain of the PDA‐Si747@CNT/ENR composites increases to 17.9% at 55.5 kV mm−1, which is 152% higher than that of CNT/ENR composites (7.1% at 30 kV mm−1). Furthermore, the ENR composite‐based DEA demonstrates excellent stability and reliability, which is advantageous for practical applications. © 2023 Society of Industrial Chemistry.

Achieving High Thermal Conductivity and Satisfactory Insulating Properties of Elastomer Composites by Self-Assembling BN@GO Hybrids.

With increasing heat accumulation in advanced modern electronic devices, dielectric materials with high thermal conductivity (λ) and excellent electrical insulation have attracted extensive attention in recent years. Inspired by mussel, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and graphene oxide (GO) are assembled to construct mhBN@GO hybrids with the assistance of poly(catechol-polyamine). Then, mhBN@GO hybrids are dispersed in carboxy nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex via emulsion coprecipitation to form elastomer composites with a high λ and satisfactory insulating properties. Thanks to the uniform dispersion of mhBN@GO hybrids, the continuous heat conduction pathways exert a significant effect on enhancing the λ and decreasing the interface thermal resistance of XNBR composites. In particular, the λ value of 30 vol% mhBN@GO/XNBR composite reaches 0.4348 W/(m·K), which is 2.7 times that of the neat XNBR (0.1623 W/(m·K)). Meanwhile, the insulating hBN platelets hinder the electron transfer between adjacent GO sheets, leading to satisfactory electrical insulation in XNBR composites, whose AC conductivity is as low as 10-10 S/cm below 100 Hz. This strategy opens up new prospects in the assembly of ceramic and carbonaceous fillers to prepare dielectric elastomer composites with high λ and satisfactory electrical insulation, making them promising for modern electrical systems.

The improved low‐field electro‐actuation of dielectric elastomer composites regulated by entirely‐inorganicBaTiO3@TiO2core‐shell construction

AbstractDielectric elastomer (DE) as an important electro‐active polymer (EAP), is capable of providing a large elastic deformation under an external electric field. However, the excellent electro‐actuated performance is usually obtained under high electric fields, which greatly limits the practical application range of DE, especially in the field of in vivo organisms. Thus, it is essential to make a reasonable structural regulation to achieve an effectively improved electro‐actuation of DE materials under low driving electric fields. Herein, a typical BaTiO3@TiO2entirely‐inorganic core‐shell construction was prepared through the micro‐emulsion method. Meanwhile, a series of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)‐based DE composites incorporated with different fractions of BaTiO3@TiO2were synthesized by solution blending and compression molding. The BaTiO3@TiO2core‐shell construction endows DE composites with an enlarged heterogeneous interface and enhanced interfacial polarization synchronously, which is also benefit to maintain the flexibility of DE materials. The buffer effect offered by TiO2shell is helpful to alleviate the local electric field concentration at the fillers‐matrix interface in DE when being withstood an exponentially‐growing electric field. Specifically, the maximum electro‐actuated strain of 21% under a low electric field (40 V·μm−1) is obtained from the DE composite filled with 4 wt% BaTiO3@TiO2, which is 290% higher than that of pristine PDMS (5.38% at 40 V·μm−1). It is shown that the well‐designed inorganic core‐shell construction can effectively improve the electromechanical conversion capability of DE composites. This study provides a promising approach to obtain an optimized electro‐actuation under low electric fields.

Frequency-dependent electrical properties of microscale self-enclosed ionic liquid enhanced soft composites.

The incorporation of room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) into dielectric elastomer composites is currently generating great interest due to their potential applications in soft actuators and optical-related devices. Experiments have shown that the electrical properties of IL enhanced soft composites (ILESCs) are dependent on AC (alternating current) frequency of the electrical loading. This current work helps develop a mixed micromechanical model with the incorporation of an electric double layer (EDL) to predict the electrical properties of the ILESCs while revealing the physical mechanisms (including crowding and overscreening structures, percolation thresholds, interfacial tunneling, Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars polarization) that underpin the phenomena. Particularly, Bazant-Storey-Kornyshev (BSK) phenomenological theory is integrated into the EDL surface diffusion model for the first time to evaluate the influence of crowding and overscreening effects. The results show excellent agreement with experimental data of IL enhanced PDMS composites over the frequency range from 1 Hz to 10 GHz. Parametric analysis from the perspective of designing is conducted to explore the methods for optimization of ILESCs with high dielectric constants and frequency-dependent stability. It is found that an IL with a smaller size and aspect ratio increases the dielectric constant of the ILESCs more significantly below the interface relaxation frequency. Increasing the surface charge density of the matrix and using ILs delay the frequency-facilitated dielectric response, which is beneficial to maintain the dielectric stability of the ILESCs.

Enhanced dielectric, energy storage, and actuated performance of TPU/BaTiO3 dielectric elastomer composites by thermal treatment

AbstractIn this paper, barium titanate nanoparticles (BaTiO3, BT) were incorporated into the polyurethane (TPU) matrix to prepare dielectric elastomer composites. Then, the composites were thermal treated to improve the interfacial compatibility between TPU and BT, enhance the interface polarization, and improve the dielectric properties. The results showed that the dielectric constant of the composites after thermal treatment at 150°C reached to 7.3 at 1 kHz, the elongation at break remained 1934%, and the elastic modulus (Y) dropped to 4.4 MPa. In addition, the discharge energy density reached 73 mJ/cm3 under an electric field of 300 kV/cm, and charge–discharge energy conversion efficiency was up to 84%. More importantly, the electrically actuated displacement of 2.61 mm at electric field of 160 kV/cm was 1.7 times greater than that of untreated composites. The composites worked stably under the action of the circulating electric field. This study provided a new strategy for obtaining high‐performance dielectric elastomer actuators, which were expected to be applied to biomimetic robots, human skin, or dielectric energy storage devices.

Enhanced electro-actuation property of heterogeneous multi-layered polydimethylsiloxane-based dielectric elastomer composites

Due to their feature of the conversion from electrical to mechanical energy under an applied electric field, dielectric elastomers (DEs) have been widely adopted in smart devices. However, the significant electro-actuated property of DEs is always obtained under a giant driving electric field, which raises a potential safety hazard and limits their practical application range. Moreover, the traditional strategy of regulating the flexibility of DEs via physical swelling effect would result in an undesired plasticizer leakage and an irreversible reduction in both electromechanical stability and lifetime. Herein, a typical heterogeneous multi-layered polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based DE composite was prepared by solution blending and the layer-by-layer casting method. Through synchronously introducing the high-permittivity BaTiO3 and the plasticizer dimethyl silicone oil in the middle layer, both the dielectric and mechanical property of the composite are effectively regulated. Not only the interlayered mechanical mismatch is eliminated but also the problem of plasticizer leakage is optimized through this reasonable structural design. The maximum electro-actuated strain obtained in the sandwiched DE composite was as large as 24.25% under 60 V/μm, which is 338.52% higher than that of pristine PDMS. Furthermore, the composite exhibits the largest driving strain (58.31%) near its breakdown electric field of 77.82 V/μm. Therefore, this study provides a promising route for the preparation of advanced DE composite with an improved low-field electro-actuated property.

Insights into the synergistic effect of methoxy functionalized halloysite nanotubes for dielectric elastomer with improved dielectric properties and actuated strain

The application of silicone rubber (SiR) as a dielectric elastomer acuator is limited by its poor actuated strain because of low dielectric constant (εr). Herein, we designed and synthesized SiR-based dielectric elastomer composites with high εr and acuated strain by introducing an extraordinary designed filler, methoxy functionalized halloysite nanotubes (HNTs-IPTS). This novel filler exhibits synergistic effects: (i) Highly polar urethane groups modified on the surface of HNTs-IPTS endow the composites with excellent dielectric properties (εr = 13.59@0.1 kHz). (ii) The covalent bonds formed between HNTs-IPTS and SiR provide the composites with enanced tensile strength, better filler dispersion, and lower dielectric loss. (iii) The tubular architecture of HNTs-IPTS promotes the efficient delivery of charge carriers, further improve the εr and actuated strain of the composites. These merits allow the resulting actuator to be more sensitive to driving field. Finally, HNTs-IPTS/SiR composites at 9 phr filler content exhibited a quite large actuated strain of 22.7% at 36.37 kV/mm without any prestrain. This work establishs the efficient HNTs-IPTS via structure design strategy, and the HNTs-IPTS/SiR composites are of great potential for next-generation DE acuators.

Modeling of Two-Dimensionally Maneuverable Jellyfish-Inspired Robot Enabled by Multiple Soft Actuators

Soft actuators, such as dielectric elastomer (DE) and ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC), can generate large deformation under electric stimuli, which makes them promising in biomimetic robotic jellyfish applications. Although dielectric elastomers and ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) have been used in jellyfish-inspired robots, respectively, there is no research that combines both of them to develop a jellyfish robot capable of two-dimensionally (2-D) maneuvering capability. In our previous work, a jellyfish robot fabricated with DE can achieve effective locomotion. However, the robot requires a big bell to provide propulsion and can only move vertically. The jellyfish-inspired robot developed in this article exhibits contracting muscle-like behavior using a DE membrane to generate a periodic contraction on its eight fins to provide a thrust force, which propels the robot to transit through underwater. The robot utilizes an IPMC to generate a bending moment, which directs the heading angle of its swimming. This article presents the design, modeling, and experimental characterization of the 2-D maneuverable jellyfish robot. The preliminary results show that the jellyfish-inspired robot can swim underwater effectively in the vertical direction with different sinusoidal input signals, the direction of the robot can be changed by bending the IPMC. The average speed of the robot is about 4.8 mm/s when a sinusoidal signal with 5 kV amplitude and 1.4 Hz frequency is applied to the DE actuator. The maximum average heading angle change can reach to 3.02 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula> by actuating IPMC without voltage applied to DE.