Stretchable composite monolayer electrodes for low voltage dielectric elastomer actuators

[Display omitted] •The Langmuir-Schaefer method is used for DEA electrode fabrication for the first time.•The monolayer electrode is based on carbon nanotubes and poly(alkylthiophene).•The electrodes are reversibly stretchable and conductive up to 100% strain.•The operating voltage is reduced by one order of magnitude with respect to usual devices. In this work, a Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube/poly(alkylthiophene) (MWCNT/PT) composite is developed as the electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) using the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) method. These composites form stable monolayers at the air-water interface that can then be LS transferred onto a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer membrane. The monolayer electrode remains conductive up to 100% uniaxial strain. We present a method to fabricate DEAs using the LS transferred electrodes. By using a mask during the transfer step, the electrodes can be patterned with better than 200 μm resolution on both sides of a 1.4 μm-thick pre-stretched PDMS membrane to produce an ultra-low voltage DEA. The DEA generates 4.0% linear strain at an actuation voltage of 100 V, an order of magnitude lower than the typical DEA operating voltage.