Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoethylene), P(VDF-TrFE), electrospun membranes were obtained from a mixture of dimethylformamide (DMF) and methylethylketone (MEK) solvents. The inclusion of MEK to the solvent system promotes a faster solvent evaporation allowing complete polymer crystallization during the jet travelling between the tip and the grounded collector. The main electrospinning process...

In recent years the use of ionic polymer metal composites such as Nafion-based platinum ionomers have emerged as electroactive polymer materials with great potential for robotics and other applications. An effective activation of these materials requires understanding of their mechanism of operation. Generally, the material needs to be maintained hydrated to assure its electromechanical activit...

Elec:troactive thin-film polymers a.re increa.sinp;ly beinp; used as sensors and actuators in aerospace structures [1,2]. They also have sip;nificant potential for applications in musc:le mechanisms and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). In these applications, polymer films of thickness varyinp; between 20 and :100 tLin are utilized. Actuation of these polymers is attributed to piezoelect...

This paper describes the development of a new gas sensor device using some electroactive polymers in thin layers. The poly(fluoro-aluminium phthalocyanine) powder, (AlPcF)n, has been synthesized, then deposited by vacuum evaporation on alumina or silicon substrates in the form of thin films with control of the deposition rate. (AlPcF)n thin layers are doped by NO2 or O2 diluted at various conce...

Novel electrically conducting composite materials consisting of poly(aniline) (PANI) nanoparticles dispersed in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-g-poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogels were prepared within the polymer matrix by in situ polymerization of aniline. The conversion yield of aniline into PANI particles was determined gravimetrically while structural confirmation of the synthesized polymer wa...

Besides the scale factor that distinguishes the various spices fundamentally biological muscles changes little between species indicating a highly optimized system, Electroactive polymer actuators offer the closest resemblance to biological muscles however beside the large actuation displacement these materials are falling short with regards to the actuation force. As improved materials emergin...

Many kinds of stimuli-responsive polymer and gels have been developed and applied to biomimetic actuators or artificial muscles. Electroactive polymers that change shape when stimulated electrically seem to be particularly promising. In all cases, however, the mechanical motion is driven by external stimuli, for example, reversing the direction of electric field. On the other hand, many living ...

We demonstrate the recording of holograms and their nondestructive readout in a photorefractive polymer, using two-photon absorption. Sensitivity is provided by the excitation of the electroactive chromophore with femtosecond pulses, followed by charge injection into the photoconducting poly(N -vinylcarbazole) matrix. The holograms can be fully erased with a pulsed laser source but are insensit...

This paper reviews materials for thermoelectric waste heat recovery, and discusses selected industrial and distributed waste heat sources as well as recovery methods that are currently applied. Thermoelectric properties, especially electrical conductivity, thermopower, thermal conductivity and the thermoelectric figures of merit, are considered when evaluating thermoelectric materials for waste...

(F-) actin or microtubules belong to the class of semiflexible polymers. The biological function of these polymers requires considerable mechanical rigidity. For example, actin filaments are the main structural elements of the cytoskeleton in which actin filaments form a network rigid enough to maintain the shape of the cell and to transmit forces, yet flexible enough to allow for cell motion a...