High strains of the relaxor ferroelectric polymers allows to build efficient actuators. While the mechanical impedance of such actuators can be optimized via their morphology, their practical realization requires flexible and versatile fabrication processes. This work devises an
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High strains of the relaxor ferroelectric polymers allows to build efficient actuators. While the mechanical impedance of such actuators can be optimized via their morphology, their practical realization requires flexible and versatile fabrication processes. This work devises an efficient procedure for manufacturing unimorph bending actuators basing on the P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) electroactive polymer (EAP). The fabrication process consists of inkjet printing the Ag electrodes and stencil printing the active P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) layer. The effect of constituent layer dimensions and properties are analytically modelled to estimate the optimal morphology for highest strains. Actuators are manufactured on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates and their performance is characterized. On PET substrate, the EAP layer thicknesses of 5 µm up to 24 µm are studied. The PEN-based actuators achieved up to 759 µm deflections in quasi-static (1 Hz, 560 Vpp) and up to 5.95 mm in resonant operation (52 Hz, 550 Vpp). The PET-based actuators achieved up to 486 µm deflections in quasi-static (1 Hz, 980 Vpp) and up to 4.44 mm in resonant operation (116 Hz, 700 Vpp). These results indicate an up to 123% improvement in quasi-static and 60% resonant actuation strains compared to the previously reported similar actuators. Modelling predicts that significantly larger deflections are feasible when fabricating the transducers with optimized morphology.
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