Fig. 4: Performance of DEAs with PIL electrodes.

a Schematic illustration of DEAs working in area strain mode. The DE layer is prestrained and then mounted on a frame. b Area strain of DEAs with PIL30-X electrodes under different electric field. c Area strain of DEAs with pristine and self-healed PIL30-TFSI electrodes under different electric field. d Ashby chart summarizing area strains and healing time of DEAs with self-healing electrodes. The solid symbols are for DEAs with pristine electrodes, and the open symbols are for self-healed electrodes. References are listed in Supplementary Table 4. e Schematic illustration of unimorph bending DEAs. The DE layer is uniaxially prestrained and attached to a passive layer. f X-axis displacement of bending DEAs with original and self-healed PIL30-TFSI electrodes. Inset is the overlapping photographs of x-axis movement of DEA at 0 and 19.2 V/μm. g Blocking forces of bending DEA with original and self-healed PIL30-TFSI electrodes. h X-axis displacement of bending DEAs as a function of time. i Cyclic actuation under 11 V/μm and 1 Hz (square wave) for bending DEA with PIL30-TFSI electrodes at different humidity.