Abstract: Electroactive polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gel can be applied to soft robots with the complex and individualized structures and it has the dual ability of bending and drawing deformation under low voltage. The printing process of PVC gel is explored by combining the direct writing technology with the preparation method of the material. The printing inks with different concentrations are arranged and the rheological and printability properties of the inks are measured. The PVC printing inks are characterized by shear thinning property. A ink with a mass ratio of PVC:DBA:Thf=1:4:12.5 is used for printing with fast curing speed and easy to be extruded. Through a single line test, the parameters of the printer are as follows:when the extrusion flow rate is 0.02 mL/min and the scanning speed is 36 mm/s, the single point line precision could reach 0.15 mm. Corrugated and fish scale PVC gel structures have been realized by this technology. Fish scale PVC gel structure is used to make into a stack structure. The 700 V square wave voltage is applied to the structure, the upper and lower vibration displacement reached 0.21 mm, and the driving force is 1.18 N under 900 V square wave voltage, which is 21 times of its own weight. The experimental results show that the PVC gel material prepared by the printing process has a good driving performance and the printing process is feasible.

Key words: direct writing technology, driving performance, electroactive polymer materials, polyvinyl chloride ge1, printing inks