Dielectric elastomers: from the beginning of modern science to applications in actuators and energy harvesters

Electrically deformable materials have a long history, with first quotations in a letter from Alessandro Volta. The topic turned out to be hot at the end of the 19th century, with a landmark paper of Rontgen anticipating the dielectric elastomer principle. In 2000, Pelrine and co-workers generated huge interest in such soft actuators, by demonstrating voltage induced huge area expansion rates of more than 300%. Since then, the field became mature, with first commercial applications appearing on the market. New frontiers also emerged recently, for example by using dielectric transducers in a reverse mode for scavenging mechanical energy. In the present survey we briefly discuss the latest developments in the field.