Several reports have appeared on the topic of anisotropic actuation in dielectric elastomers. Most of these, including our own published in Advanced Materials (2014), incorporate aligned microfibers into the VHB adhesive. In all these studies, the results have been quite promising, demonstrating that anisotropic actuation is achieved primarily in the direction normal to the fiber axis. We have previously explored this phenomenon in detail using polyurethane and carbon fibers. In the present study, we shall use these results to set the stage for our ongoing studies that employ our unique thermoplastic elastomer gel (TPEG) design, which provides much more versatility than VHB. These results allow us to decouple the roles of dielectric constant and mechanical modulus in actuation development.
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