TY - JOUR A1 - Assagra, Yuri A.O. A1 - Altafim, Ruy Alberto Pisani A1 - do Carmo, Joao P. A1 - Altafim, Ruy A.C. A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - A new route to piezo-polymer transducers: 3D printing of polypropylene ferroelectrets JF - IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation N2 - Here, a promising approach for producing piezo-polymer transducers in a one-step process is presented. Using 3D-printing technology and polypropylene (PP) filaments, we are able to print a two-layered film structure with regular cavities of precisely controlled size and shape. It is found that the 3D-printed samples exhibit piezoelectric coefficients up to 200 pC/N, similar to those of other PP ferroelectrets, and their temporal and thermal behavior is in good agreement with those known of PP ferroelectrets. The piezoelectric response strongly decreases for applied pressures above 20 kPa, as the pressure in the air-filled cavities strongly influences the overall elastic modulus of ferroelectrets. KW - 3D printing KW - polymer ferroelectrets KW - sensors and actuators KW - piezoelectrets KW - electret polymers KW - soft electro-active materials KW - functional materials KW - soft matter Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2020.008461 SN - 1070-9878 SN - 1558-4135 VL - 27 IS - 5 SP - 1668 EP - 1674 PB - Inst. of Electr. and Electronics Engineers CY - Piscataway ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mazurek, P. A1 - Yu, L. A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Skov, A. L. T1 - Glycerol as high-permittivity liquid filler in dielectric silicone elastomers JF - Journal of applied polymer science N2 - A recently reported novel class of elastomers was tested with respect to its dielectric properties. The new elastomer material is based on a commercially available poly(dimethylsiloxane) composition, which has been modified by embedding glycerol droplets into its matrix. The approach has two major advantages that make the material useful in a dielectric actuator. First, the glycerol droplets efficiently enhance the dielectric constant, which can reach astonishingly high values in the composite. Second, the liquid filler also acts as a softener that effectively decreases the elastic modulus of the composite. In combination with very low cost and easy preparation, the two property enhancements lead to an extremely attractive dielectric elastomer material. Experimental permittivity data are compared to various theoretical models that predict relative permittivity changes as a function of filler loading, and the applicability of the models is discussed. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44153. KW - crosslinking KW - dielectric properties KW - elastomers KW - sensors and actuators Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/app.44153 SN - 0021-8995 SN - 1097-4628 VL - 133 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER -