Effect of Temperature on the Electromechanical Properties of Elastomers

Acrylic elastomers, SAR, and SIS thin sheets are fabricated through solvent casting and tested towards electroactive applications such as artificial muscle and/or MEMS devices. Experiments were carried under the oscillatory shear mode with applied electric field strength varying from 0 to 2 kV/mm. The effect of temperature on the storage and loss modulus (G' and G"), storage modulus sensitivity ($\Delta $G'/G'$_{0})$, electrical conductivity, and dielectric permittivity of acrylic elastomers (AR70, AR71, and AR72), SAR and SIS D1112P are studied between 300-360 K. SAR possesses the highest storage modulus sensitivity, 104{\%}, whereas AR72 has the lowest storage modulus sensitivity of about 21.5{\%} at E = 2 kV/mm. AR71 has the highest dielectric permittivity ($\varepsilon \prime )$ of 39.31 pF/m, whereas SIS D1112P has the lowest dielectric permittivity of about 20.74 pF/m. The electrical permittivities of the elastomers increase with increasing temperature. There is a correlation between the storage modulus sensitivity of the elastomers and their dielectric constants.