The performance of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) can be improved by controlling the way polymer chains are oriented in the cross-linked network such that the DE is transversely isotropic~\cite{grasinger2019multiscale}. (a) and (b) show the reference and deformed configuration for the typical mode of actuation of DEA; (c) and (d) show the unit cell of a material point corresponding to (a) and (b), respectively. The polarization of the individual chains are shown as gold arrows and the deformation occurs, in part, because the chain polarization vectors want to align with the electric field. (e) and (f) show two possible designs of chain orientations where red denotes a higher density of chains and blue a lower density of chains.  (g) shows the usable work as a function of the normalized voltage for various design DEs. Note: a vertical drop at the end of a data series denotes the failure of that material and $\theta_0 = \theta_{\text{iso}}$ signifies the standard isotropic DE.  The efficiency (usable work per voltage for a given voltage) and/or maximum usable work (before failure) can be improved by properly designing the DE network.

(see doi.org/10.1039/D0SM00845A; doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2020.104171; further publication of this work is in progress, more detail can be found in my dissertation)