High‐Performance Dielectric Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuator Enabled by Its Unique Strain Softening

ABSTRACT Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) combine light weight, large work output, fast response, and energy efficiency, making them attractive for emerging applications in soft robotics, wearable devices, and biomedical systems. However, their performance under mechanical loading is constrained by low blocking stress (20%) and significantly enhanced work output under large loads (>1.5 MPa). The optimized DLCEA achieves specific energy densities reaching 440 J/kg at low frequencies (0.5 Hz) and peak power densities of 9100 W/kg at resonance (10 Hz), outperforming state‐of‐the‐art DEAs. Demonstrations include high‐load actuation and fluid pumping with a single‐layer actuator, highlighting the potential of DLCEAs for scalable, high‐performance electromechanical systems.