Automated and scalable sheet-to-sheet manufacturing process for fabrication of dielectric elastomer laminates based on thin films

摘要

A dielectric elastomer transducer (DET) consists of a thin elastomer film and compliant conductive electrodes on each side. By laminating several layers, DE multilayer transducers can be designed, having a great potential in different industrial applications. So far, different manufacturing processes, such as spin-coating, 3D-printing, roll-to-roll and roll-to sheet processes, have been successfully developed and applied. Manufacturing processes based on pre-fabricated elastomer material have the advantage, that the dielectric elastomer film is characterized by homogeneous and reproducible properties. Nevertheless, the handling and the tension-free lamination of very thin elastomer films is a challenge. Moreover, the transition of a process from a laboratory to an industrial scale should be considered at the beginning of the process design. This paper presents a new approach of a manufacturing process for high-quality dielectric elastomer laminates which can be processed to DE multilayer transducers. Starting with a pre-fabricated elastomer film, different process steps such as sheet creation, stacking and applying structured electrodes are performed to finally achieve a DE laminate with a high number of layers. A crucial process step, the detachment of the pre-fabricated elastomer film from the liner and the subsequent stacking, is experimentally demonstrated. Based on the presented concept, a laboratory scale setup to carry out the designed process is introduced.