@article{MellingerWegenerWirgesetal.2006, author = {Mellinger, Axel and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Mallepally, Rajendar Reddy and Gerhard, Reimund}, title = {Thermal and temporal stability of ferroelectret films made from cellular polypropylene/air composites}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Ferroelectrets are thin films of polymer foams, exhibiting piezoelectric properties after electrical charging. Ferroelectret foams usually consist of a cellular polymer structure filled with air. Polymer-air composites are elastically soft due to their high air content as well as due to the size and shape of the polymer walls. Their elastically soft composite structure is one essential key for the working principle of ferroelectrets, besides the permanent trapping of electric charges inside the polymer voids. The elastic properties allow large deformations of the electrically charged voids. However, the composite structure can also possibly limit the stability and consequently the range of applications because of, e. g., penetration of gas and liquids accompanied by discharge phenomena or because of a mechanical pre-load which may be required during the application. Here, we discuss various stability aspects related to the piezoelectric properties of polypropylene ferroelectrets. Near and below room temperature, the piezoelectric effect and the stability of the trapped charges are practically independent from humidity during long-time storage in a humid atmosphere or water, or from operating conditions, such as continuous mechanical excitation. Thermal treatment of cellular polypropylene above -10 degrees C leads to a softening of the voided structure which is apparent from the decreasing values of the elastic modulus. This decrease results in an increase of the piezoelectric activity. Heating above 60 degrees C, however, leads to a decrease in piezoelectricity}, language = {en} } @article{MellingerFloresSuarezSinghetal.2006, author = {Mellinger, Axel and Flores Su{\´a}rez, Rosaura and Singh, Rajeev and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Lang, Sidney B. and Gerhard, Reimund}, title = {High-resolution space-charge and polarization tomography with thermal pulses}, isbn = {3-8007-2939-3}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Die Arbeit wurde am 13.03.2006 mit dem "BEST PAPER AWARD" des deutschen IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement (I\&M) Chapter ausgezeichnet.}, language = {en} } @article{QiuMellingerWegeneretal.2007, author = {Qiu, Xunlin and Mellinger, Axel and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Gerhard, Reimund}, title = {Barrier discharges in cellular polypropylene ferroelectrets : how do they influence the electromechanical properties?}, year = {2007}, language = {en} } @article{MellingerFloresSuarezSinghetal.2007, author = {Mellinger, Axel and Flores Su{\´a}rez, Rosaura and Singh, Rajeev and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Gerhard, Reimund}, title = {Zerst{\"o}rungsfreie Tomographie von Raumladungs- und Polarisationsverteilungen mittles W{\"a}rmepulsen}, issn = {0171-8096}, doi = {10.1524/teme.2007.74.9.437}, year = {2007}, abstract = {Non-destructive, three-dimensional imaging of space-charge and polarization distributions in electret materials has been implemented by means of laser-induced thermal pulses. In pyroelectric films of poled poly(vinylidene fluoride), images of up to 45 x 45 pixels with a depth resolution of less than 0.5 mu m and a lateral resolution of 40 mu m were recorded, the latter being limited by fast thermal diffusion in the absorbing metallic front electrode. Initial applications include the analysis of polarization distributions in corona-poled piezoelectric sensor cables and the detection of patterned space-charge distributions in polytetrafluoroethylene films.}, language = {de} } @article{MellingerWegenerWirgesetal.2006, author = {Mellinger, Axel and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Mallepally, Rajendar Reddy and Gerhard, Reimund}, title = {Thermal and temporal stability of ferroelectret films made from cellular polypropylene/air composites}, year = {2006}, language = {en} } @article{MellingerSinghWegeneretal.2005, author = {Mellinger, Axel and Singh, Rajeev and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Gerhard, Reimund and Lang, Sidney B.}, title = {Three-dimensional mapping of polarization profiles with thermal pulses}, issn = {0003-6951}, year = {2005}, abstract = {High-resolution, large-area three-dimensional mapping of polarization profiles in electret polymers was carried out by means of a fast thermal pulse technique with a focused laser beam. A lateral resolution of 38 mu m and a near- surface depth resolution of less than 0.5 mu m was achieved. At larger depths, fast thermal diffusion in the metal electrode rather than the laser spot size becomes the limiting factor for the lateral resolution. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics}, language = {en} } @article{MellingerWegenerWirgesetal.2001, author = {Mellinger, Axel and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Gerhard, Reimund}, title = {Thermally stable dynamic piezoelectricity in sandwich films of porous and non-porous amorphous fluoropolymer}, year = {2001}, language = {en} } @article{FloresSuarezMellingerWegeneretal.2006, author = {Flores Su{\´a}rez, Rosaura and Mellinger, Axel and Wegener, Michael and Wirges, Werner and Gerhard, Reimund and Singh, Rajeev}, title = {Thermal-pulse tomography of polarization distributions in a cylindrical geometry}, series = {IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation}, volume = {13}, journal = {IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation}, number = {5}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {Piscataway}, issn = {1070-9878}, doi = {10.1109/TDEI.2006.258210}, pages = {1030 -- 1035}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Fast, three-dimensional polarization mapping in piezoelectric sensor cables was performed by means of the novel thermal-pulse tomography (TPT) technique with a lateral resolution of 200 mum. The active piezoelectric cable material (a copolymer of polyvinylidene fluoride with trifluoroethylene) was electrically poled with a point-to-cable corona discharge. A focused laser was employed to heat the opaque outer electrode, and the short-circuit current generated by the thermal pulse was used to obtain 3D polarization maps via the scale transformation method. The article describes the TPT technique as a fast non-destructive option for studying cylindrical geometries.}, language = {en} }