Low‐Voltage Reversible Electroadhesion of Ionoelastomer Junctions
Abstract
Electroadhesion provides a simple route to rapidly and reversibly control adhesion using applied electric potentials, offering promise for a variety of applications including haptics and robotics. Current electroadhesives, however, suffer from key limitations associated with the use of high operating voltages (>kV) and corresponding failure due to dielectric breakdown. Here, a new type of electroadhesion based on heterojunctions between iono‐elastomer of opposite polarity is demonstrated, which can be operated at potentials as low as ≈1 V. The large electric field developed across the molecular‐scale ionic double layer (IDL) when the junction is placed under reverse bias allows for strong adhesion at low voltages. In contrast, under forward bias, the electric field across the IDL is destroyed, substantially lowering the adhesion in a reversible fashion. These ionoelastomer electroadhesives are highly efficient with respect to the force capacity per electrostatic capacitive energy and are robust to defects or damage that typically lead to catastrophic failure of conventional dielectric electroadhesives. The findings provide new fundamental insight into low‐voltage electroadhesion and broaden its possible applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 17, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1002/adma.202000600
Entities
People
- Alfred J Crosby
- Baohong Chen
- Christopher W. Barney
- Hyeong Jun Kim
- Lindsay Paquin
- Ryan C Hayward
- Soonyong So
- Zhigang Suo
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- Harvard University
- Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Army Research Laboratory
- University of Massachusetts