Towards materials with enhanced electro-mechanical response: CaCu3Ti4O12-polydimethylsiloxane compositesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: X-ray diffraction patterns of both sintered and powder CCTO. Stress-strain curves of PDMS and its composites. See DOI: 10.1039/c2jm34674e

• Main Authors: Romasanta, Laura J, Leret, Pilar, Casaban, Leandro, Hernández, Marianella, de la Rubia, Miguel A, Fernández, José F, Kenny, José M, Lopez-Manchado, Miguel A, Verdejo, Raquel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0959-9428; 1364-5501
• DOI: 10.1039/c2jm34674e

We describe a straightforward production pathway of polymer matrix composites with increased dielectric constant for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). Up to date, the approach of using composites made of high dielectric constant ceramics and insulating polymers has not evidenced any improvement in the performance of DEA devices, mainly as a consequence of the ferroelectric nature of the employed ceramics. We propose here an unexplored alternative to these traditional fillers, introducing calcium copper titanate (CCTO) CaCu 3 Ti 4 O 12 , which has a giant dielectric constant making it very suitable for capacitive applications. All CCTO-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites developed display an improved electro-mechanical performance. The largest actuation improvement was achieved for the composite with 5.1 vol% of CCTO, having an increment in the actuation strain of about 100% together with a reduction of 25% in the electric field compared to the raw PDMS matrix. A novel calcium copper titanate CaCu 3 Ti 4 O 12 (CCTO)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite was developed with enhanced dielectric permittivity, low dielectric loss and preserved mechanical properties, making it suitable for dielectric elastomer actuators.