Smart textiles combine the features of conventional with promising properties smart materials such as electromechanically active polymers, resulting in textile actuators. Textile actuators comprise individual yarn actuators, so understanding their electro-chemo-mechanical behavior is great importance. Herein, this study investigates effect inherent structural and mechanical commercial yarns, th...

The embedding of oxide nanoparticles in polymer matrices produces a greatly enhanced dielectric response by combining the high dielectric strength and low loss of suitable host polymers with the high electric polarizability of nanoparticles. The fabrication of oxide-polymer nanocomposites with well-controlled distributions of nanoparticles is, however, challenging due to the thermodynamic and k...

Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole, polythiophene and polyaniline are currently studied as novel biologically inspired actuators. The actuation mechanism of these materials depends upon the motion of ions in and out of the polymer film during electrochemical cycling. The diffusion of ions into the bulk of the film causes the dynamic mechanical compliance (or modulus) of the material to cha...

Ferroelectric polymers with high flexibility and inherent piezo- pyro-electric properties have gained tremendous importance for next-generation wearable electronics. In this context, we investigate the intrinsic polarity mediated work function modulation in α-, γ-, β-crystalline phases of a ferroelectric polymer, namely, polyvinylidene fluoride. A wide range surface potentials (i.e., −5 to −70 ...

The embedding of oxide nanoparticles in polymer matrices produces a greatly enhanced dielectric response by combining the high dielectric strength and low loss of suitable host polymers with the high electric polarizability of nanoparticles. The fabrication of oxide–polymer nanocomposites with well-controlled distributions of nanoparticles is, however, challenging due to the thermodynamic and k...