A Review of Recent Advances in Electrically Driven Polymer-Based Flexible Actuators: Smart Materials, Structures, and Their Applications

Polymer-based flexible actuators have recently attracted significant attention owing to their great potentials in soft robotics, wearables, haptics, and medical devices. In particular, electrically driven polymer-based flexible actuators are considered as some of the most practical actuators because they can be driven by a simple electrical power source. Over the past decade, research on electrically driven soft actuators has greatly progressed, leading to the development of various functional materials and bioinspired structures. This article comprehensively reviews recent advances in electrically driven soft actuators and compares their actuation performance based on working principles, materials, and structures. Several strategies, including combining smart materials and composite structures, which are proposed to overcome some of the drawbacks of electrically driven soft actuators, are also discussed. Finally, potential applications of electrically driven soft actuators in soft robotics are summarized and an outlook is presented.