The advantages and disadvantage of a DEA can be briefly summarized as the following:
High strains, upwards of 100% or more.
Low weight and thinness.
Stackable nature, allowing for a variety of configurations and motions (bending, etc.) to be produced.
As an example, individual subunits can be stacked on top of each other to improve force output.
Scalable to small sizes, allowing for microscale applications.
High compliance (low stiffness), allowing for high-frequency applications.
Electrically-actuated and easy to integrate in electronic control systems.
High voltage requirement (in the kilovolt range at minimum), which limits potential range of applications.
The high voltages involved means safety is a serious concern. Messing around with kV-range voltages can result in grievous injury or death!
Low force output, restricting application in anything that involves moving heavy loads.
Some other notable disadvantages (specific to our presented design) include the messiness of working with carbon grease, and the difficulty of working with a thin adhesive membrane. If you are planning to construct a stacked DEA design, be aware that stacking them can be extremely difficult with an adhesive dielectric.