New ‘Bottlebrush’ Electroactive Polymers Make Dielectric Elastomers Increasingly Viable for Use in Devices

A multi-institutional research team has developed a new electroactive polymer material that can change shape and size when exposed to a relatively small electric field. The advance overcomes two longstanding challenges regarding the use of electroactive polymers to develop new devices, opening the door to a suite of applications ranging from microrobotics to designer haptic, optic, microfluidic, and wearable technologies. The work was performed by researchers at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Akron.