Study on Breakdown of Dielectric Elastomer Generators during Energy Harvesting Process

The continuous development and application of dielectric elastomer materials has shown that they have great potential in the mutual conversion of electrical and mechanical energy. However, in the process of energy harvesting, electrical breakdown is one of the main failure modes that limit the lifespan of the dielectric elastomer generator (DEG). To clarify the effect of mechanical stretching on the dielectric strength of dielectric elastomer materials and the relationship between breakdown and tensile displacement during energy harvesting, in this paper, the energy harvesting process of DEG is studied and electrical breakdown events are observed under different conditions. It was found that the dielectric strength of the tested elastomers is greatly affected by their tensile state and the breakdown field strength increases with increasing strain. During the energy harvesting process, under constant charge conditions, the actual electric field strength in the material varies with strain. Furthermore, discharge phenomena are observed during strain relaxation, which greatly affects the dielectric properties of the dielectric elastomer.