TY - JOUR A1 - Flores Suárez, Rosaura A1 - Mellinger, Axel A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Singh, Rajeev T1 - Thermal-pulse tomography of polarization distributions in a cylindrical geometry JF - IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation N2 - 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. Y1 - 2006 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2006.258210 SN - 1070-9878 VL - 13 IS - 5 SP - 1030 EP - 1035 PB - IEEE CY - Piscataway ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ryabchun, Alexander A1 - Kollosche, Matthias A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Sakhno, Oksana T1 - Holographic Structuring of Elastomer Actuator: First True Monolithic Tunable Elastomer Optics JF - Advanced materials N2 - Volume diffraction gratings (VDGs) are inscribed selectively by diffusive introduction of benzophenone and subsequent UV-holographic structuring into an electroactive dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA), to afford a continuous voltage-controlled grating shift of 17%. The internal stress coupling of DEA and optical domain allows for a new generation of true monolithic tunable elastomer optics with voltage controlled properties. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201602881 SN - 0935-9648 SN - 1521-4095 VL - 28 SP - 10217 EP - 10223 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kussmaul, Bjoern A1 - Risse, Sebastian A1 - Kofod, Guggi A1 - Wache, Remi A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - McCarthy, Denis N. A1 - Krüger, Hartmut A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Enhancement of dielectric permittivity and electromechanical response in silicone elastomers molecular grafting of organic dipoles to the macromolecular Network JF - Advanced functional materials N2 - A novel method is established for permittivity enhancement of a silicone matrix for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) by molecular level modifications of the elastomer matrix. A push-pull dipole is synthesized to be compatible with the silicone crosslinking chemistry, allowing for direct grafting to the crosslinker molecules in a one-step film formation process. This method prevents agglomeration and yields elastomer films that are homogeneous down to the molecular level. The dipole-to-silicone network grafting reaction is studied by FTIR. The chemical, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of films with dipole contents ranging from 0 wt% to 13.4 wt% were thoroughly characterized. The grafting of dipoles modifies the relative permittivity and the stiffness, resulting in the actuation strain at a given electrical field being improved by a factor of six. KW - dipole grafting KW - silicone based dielectric elastomer actuators KW - permittivity enhancement Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201100884 SN - 1616-301X VL - 21 IS - 23 SP - 4589 EP - 4594 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kussmaul, Björn A1 - Risse, Sebastian A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Kofod, Guggi A1 - Krüger, Hartmut T1 - Matrix stiffness dependent electro-mechanical response of dipole grafted silicones JF - Smart materials and structures N2 - The properties of dielectric elastomer actuators can be optimized by modifying the dielectric or mechanical properties of the dielectric elastomer. This paper presents the simultaneous control of both dielectric and mechanical properties, in a silicone elastomer network comprising cross-linker, chains and grafted molecular dipoles. Chains with two different molecular weights were each combined with varying amounts of grafted dipole. Chemical and physical characterization showed that networks with stoichiometric control of cross-linking density and permittivity were obtained, and that longer chain lengths resulted in higher electrical field response due to the reduction in cross-linking density and correspondingly in mechanical stiffness. Both actuation sensitivities were enhanced by 6.3 and 4.6 times for the short and long chain matrix material, respectively. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/21/6/064005 SN - 0964-1726 VL - 21 IS - 6 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Voronina, Olena A1 - Zirkel, Larissa A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Optimized preparation of elastically soft, highly piezoelectric, cellular ferroelectrets from nonvoided poly(ethylene terephthalate) films N2 - Electrically charged cellular polymer films can exhibit very high piezoelectric activity and are therefore more and more often employed in advanced electromechanical and electro-acoustical transducers. In this paper, we report an optimized sequence of steps for preparing such ferroelectrets from commercial nonvoided ploy(ethylene terephthalate) (PETP) films by means of foaming with CO2 biaxial mechanical stretching, controlled void inflation, and bipolar electric charging. The nonvoid PETP films foamed with supercritical CO2 at a suitably high pressure and subsequently annealed for stabilization. The cellular foam structure was further optimized by means of well controlled biaxial stretching in a commercial stretcher and sometimes subsequent inflamation in a pressure chamber. Bipolar electric charging of the internal voids was achieved through the application of high electric fields in an SF0 atmosphere. The new optimized PETP ferroelectric exhibit quite large piezoelectric coefficients up to almost 500 pCN(-1), for which unusually low elastic stiffness of only around 0.3 MPa are essential. The PETP foam ferroelectrics posses unclamped thickenss-extension resonance frequences between approximately 120 and 250 kHz, and are thus highly suitable for several established as well as novel ultrasonic-transductant applications. Y1 - 2007 UR - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.200600162/pdf U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200600162 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Dansachmüller, M. A1 - Schwödiauer, R. A1 - Bauer-Gogonea, Simona A1 - Bauer, Siegfried A1 - Paajanen, Mika A1 - Minkkinen, Hannu A1 - Raukola, J. T1 - Controlled inflation of voids in cellular polymer ferroelectrets : optimizing electromechanical transducer properties N2 - When exposed to sufficiently high electric fields, polymer-foam electret materials with closed cells exhibit ferroelectric-like behavior and may therefore be called ferroelectrets. In cellular ferroelectrets, the influence of the cell size and shape distributions on the application-relevant properties is not yet understood. Therefore, controlled inflation experiments were carried out on cellular polypropylene films, and the resulting elastical and electromechanical parameters were determined. The elastic modulus in the thickness direction shows a minimum with a corresponding maximum in the electromechanical transducer coefficient. The resonance frequency shifts as a function of the elastic modulus and the relative density of the inflated cellular films. Therefore, the transducer properties of cellular ferroelectrets can be optimized by means of controlled inflation. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics Y1 - 2004 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saarimäki, Eetta A1 - Paajanen, Mika A1 - Savijärvi, Ann-Mari A1 - Minkkinen, Hannu A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Voronina, Olena A1 - Schulze, Robert A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Novel heat durable electromechanical film : processing for electromechanical and electret applications N2 - New ferroelectrets were developed on the basis of foams from cyclo-olefin polymers and copolymers. The results obtained on the cyclo-olefin polymer foam demonstrate a significant improvement of the service temperature for ferroelectret transducer materials. Suitable compounding and preparation led to cyclo-olefin ferroelectrets with an electromechanical activity of around 15 pC/N, which is thermally stable at least up to 110 degrees C. The properties in sensor and actuator applications are strongly dependent on the processing parameters related to film-making, sensor and actuator preparation, gas content and electric charging. The processing window for the film stretching was very narrow compared to the earlier developed polypropylene ferroelectrets. The film porosity, softness and thus the electromechanical activity are adjusted by gas-diffusion expansion. The activity of the electromechanically operating sensors and actuators was increased by stacking several layers of cellular cyclo-olefin film. For applications such as flat loudspeakers, the foamed films are tuned by tensioning them on a support frame. Correct tensioning was essential also for reducing the distortion levels. Y1 - 2006 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Greco, Tonino A1 - Wang, Feipeng A1 - Wegener, Michael T1 - Multifunctional silver poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposites : nanoparticle synthesis, film processing, and structural characterization N2 - Scope of this work was the synthesis of homogeneously dispersed silver nanoparticles in the ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and the study of the resulting properties affecting both the electro-active matrix and the optically-active nanofiller. In the nanocomposites surface plasmon resonances can be tuned across the UV- vis to the NIR spectral range. From IR spectra and DSC measurements it is concluded that the - to -phase transformation is observed and no degradation of the polymer matrix occurs. Finally, electrical poling was performed in order to investigate the influence of the embedded silver particles on the polarization behavior of the ferroelectric polymer. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=journal&issn=0015-0193 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/00150193.2010.482896 SN - 0015-0193 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Feipeng A1 - Frübing, Peter A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Wegener, Michael T1 - Enhanced Polarization in Melt-quenched and Stretched Poly(vinylidene Fluoride-Hexafluoropropylene) Films N2 - beta-phase poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-HFP)) copolymer films were prepared by uniaxially stretching solution-cast or melt-quenched samples. Different preparation routes lead to different amounts of the crystalline alpha and beta phases in the films, as detected by means of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The beta phase is significantly enhanced in melt-quenched and stretched films in comparison to solution-cast and stretched films. This is particularly true for copolymer samples with higher HFP content. The beta- phase enhancement is also observed in ferroelectric-hysteresis experiments where a rather high polarization of 58 mC/ m(2) was found on melt-quenched and stretched samples after poling at electric fields of 140 MV/m. After poling at 160 MV/m, one of these samples exhibited a piezoelectric d(33) coefficient as high as 21 pC/N. An electric-field-induced partial transition from the alpha to the beta phase was also observed on the melt-quenched and stretched samples. This effect leads to a further increase in the applications-relevant dipole polarization. Uniaxially stretched ferroelectric- polymer films are highly anisotropic. Dielectric resonance spectroscopy reveals a strong increase of the transverse piezoelectric d(32) coefficient and a strong decrease of the transverse elastic modulus c(32) upon heating from 20 to 50 degrees C. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?punumber=94 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2010.5539679 SN - 1070-9878 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fang, Peng A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Zirkel, Larissa T1 - Cellular polyethylene-naphthalate ferroelectrets : foaming in supercritical carbon dioxide, structural and electrical preparation, and resulting piezoelectricity N2 - Polymer foams with electrically charged cellular voids, the so-called ferroelectrets, are soft piezoelectric transducer materials. Several polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate or cyclo-olefin copolymers are under investigation with respect to their suitability as ferroelectrets. Here, the authors report an additional ferroelectret polymer, cellular polyethylene-naphthalate (PEN), which was prepared from commercial uniform polymer films by means of foaming in supercritical carbon dioxide, inflation, biaxial stretching, electrical charging, and metallization. Piezoelectric d(33) coefficients of up to 140 pC/N demonstrate the suitability of such cellular PEN films for transducer applications. Their piezoelectricity is partially stable at elevated temperatures as high as 100 degrees C. Y1 - 2007 UR - http://apl.aip.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2738365 SN - 0003-6951 ER -