In this article, novel chitosan-g-poly (acrylic acid) hydrogel elastomers were successfully sythesised by grafting chitosan (CTS) onto poly acrylic acid (PAA) through radical polymerization in the presence/absence of direct current electric field. Their structure and electro-response were evaluated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and dynamic mechanical analyser (DMA), respectively. Stress-strain test showed that the toughness of the chitosan-g-PAA elastomer is higher than the PAA gel. The result demonstrates the elastomers obtained in the presence/absence of electric field with similar chemical composition possess different microstructure. The positive electro responsive effect appeared on the elastomers, and both of storage modulus increment and increment sensitivity yielded maximum value at the AA concentration of 14.09 wt% under the applied electric field of 1.5 kV/mm. Thermo gravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) showed the elastomers cured under an applied electric field have stronger intramolecular bonding and higher cross-linking density. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.