LAUSR

In this study, poly(propylene glycol diacetate)s (PPGDAs) with different molecular weights were obtained by the esterification reaction of poly(propylene glycol) and acetic anhydride. We effectively reduced the residual moisture and hydrophilicity of PPGDA. Then, poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) was modified by the addition of only 5 wt % PPGDA, which possessed a high dielectric constant (k) and a large actuated strain at a low electric field. PPGDA was used to enhance the molecular polarity because of the more polar oxygen atoms and the greater number of ester groups. The great increase in k and the low elastic modulus of the PPGDA–PDMS composites lead to a great increase in the electromechanical sensitivity. When the molecular weight of PPGDA was about 4000, the PPGDA–PDMS composites had the largest actuated strain. As a result, compared to the pure silicone elastomer (8.94%), it exhibited a greater strain of 17.31% at a low electric field of 10.5 V/μm (an increase of ca. 1.94 times). © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45329.