Spatially Modulus-Patterned dielectric elastomer actuators with oriented electroactuation

• Dielectric elastomer (DE) films with the capability of post-crosslinking. • The initial modulus of DE films can be continuously improved by 10 times. • DE films with parallel modulus patterns can be used for oriented electroactuation. • The advantage of oriented electroactuation of DE actuators was demonstrated. The oriented actuation of muscles is an important motion form in the locomotion of living beings. Dielectric elastomers (DE) as soft electroactive materials are considered as one of the leading candidates for artificial muscles. However, the electro-actuated deformations of most DE films are uniformly expanded, since synthetic elastomer films are generally mechanically isotropic. Here, we design an elastomer network with reserved double bonds, which allows post-crosslinking in as-prepared isotropic elastomer films with designed crosslinked patterns to spatially modulate the stiffness, and the elastic modulus in the post-crosslinked areas can be continuously increased by an order of magnitude. We reveal that introducing proper numbers of periodic parallel post-crosslinked strips enables the elastomer film to exhibit strong anisotropic mechanical behavior. Furthermore, we simulate and demonstrate the advantage of oriented electroactuation in DE actuators by using DE films with different numbers of parallel strips. Like the dexterous and elegant muscle-driven motions of creatures, our DE films capable of post-regulating mechanical properties can be potentially programmed for achieving complicated electroactuation via designing local crosslinked density and patterns.