Sub Kilovolt Electrostatic Elastomer Actuator with Silver Nanowire Electrodes

Abstract

Silver nanowires are used as a flexible electrode material on the elastic PDMS membrane of an electrostatic membrane actuator. The actuator system is designed in a modular way to promote a facile investigation of the influence of varying design parameters. Parameter simulations have been performed to achieve a high membrane center displacement at low applied voltages, compared to literature. The design properties were tested and verified in first experiments showing a membrane center displacement of over 100 $\mu \mathrm{m}$ at voltages above 4 kV [7].