Dielectric elastomers (DEs) that couple deformation and electrostatics have the potential for use in soft sensors and actuators with applications ranging from robotic, biomedical, energy, aerospace and automotive technologies. However, currently available DEs are limited by weak electromechanical coupling and require large electric fields for significant actuation. In this work, a statistical mechanics-based model of DE chains is applied to elucidate the role of a polymer network architecture in the performance of the bulk material. Given a polymer network composed of chains that are cross-linked, the paper examines the role of cross-link density, orientational density of chains, and other network parameters in determining the material properties of interest including elastic modulus, electrical susceptibility, and the electromechanical coupling. From this analysis, a practical strategy is presented to increase the deformation and usable work derived from (anisotropic) dielectric elastomer actuators by as much as $75-100\%$.

耦合变形和静电的介电弹性体（DEs）有潜力用于软传感器和执行器，其应用范围包括机器人，生物医学，能源，航空航天和汽车技术。但是，当前可用的DE受到弱机电耦合的限制，并且需要较大的电场才能有效驱动。在这项工作中，应用了基于统计力学的DE链模型来阐明聚合物网络体系结构在散装材料性能中的作用。给定由交联链组成的聚合物网络，本文研究了交联密度，链的取向密度以及其他网络参数在确定目标材料性能（包括弹性模量，电化率和机电）中的作用。耦合。$75-100％$。