Fig. 3: Actuation performance.

a Comparison of dielectric constant (\({\varepsilon }_{r}\)) measured at 1 kHz, Young’s modulus (Y), and actuation sensitivity (β) between VHB^TM4910 and BAC2 sample. b Dependence of actuation area strain on the nominal electric field for the films of VHB^TM4910 and BAC2 elastomers without pre-strain. The nominal electric field is defined as voltage on films divided by initial thickness before electrically actuated. The inset shows the schematic diagrams illustrating the electro-actuation deformation process from the view of top and side directions. c Dependence of actuation area strain on the nominal electric field for the films of VHB^TM 4910 and BAC2 elastomers with 400% equiaxial pre-strain. The inset displays the optical images of VHB^TM 4910 and BAC2 films before and after actuated. d Time-dependent behavior of the actuated area strain of VHB^TM 4910 and BAC2 films with 400% equiaxial pre-strain at 40 MV m⁻¹. Normalized strain denotes the time-varying strain divided by strain at 600 s. e Frequency response of samples to large drive signals (5 kV) in the range of 1–100 Hz. The data were normalized to 1 at 1 Hz. f Cyclic actuation test of 50,000 cycles was performed on BAC2 film at electric field of 5 kV and excitation frequency of 5 Hz. The inset demonstrated z-axis displacement response in the last five cycles.