Comment on Method to analyze electromechanical stability of dielectric elastomers [Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 061921 (2007)]

We would like to thank Zhao and Suo [Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 061921 (2007)] for their insights and help on Method to analyze electromechanical stability of dielectric elastomers; Suo provided the theory of stability of dielectric elastomers. In this Comment, the nonlinear electromechanical theory for deformable dielectrics described in Suo's paper is applied to analyze the stability of dielectric elastomers. Different from that given in Suo's paper, in the current work, elastic strain energy functional with two material constants is used for the stability analysis. Dielectric materials with different values of k are analyzed, and the results seem to support Suo's theory. These results can be applied in the design of dielectric elastomer actuator and in larger application spectrum. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.