Materials and Components for Flexible and Stretchable Transducers
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Materials and Components for Flexible and Stretchable Transducers Siegfried Bauer Soft Matter Physics, Johannes Kepler University, Altenberger Str. 69, Linz, 40404, Austria ABSTRACT Flexible and stretchable electronic components are currently at the heart of macroelectronics research. Materials useful for such applications are based on entropy elastic soft matter, combined with energy elastic functional elements. Examples include functional materials for sensing pressure and temperature changes, such as ferroelectrets, ferroelectric polymers, and nanocomposites of ferroelectric polymers and piezoelectric ceramics. Components for making flexible or stretchable electronic components additionally require electronic circuitry based on amorphous silicon or on organic semiconductors. Progress in such electronic elements is rapid, state of the art are elements which can easily operate at low voltage levels of 1 V. Combined with functional materials, sensing elements for temperature and pressure changes are easily achieved, as demonstrated with a few working examples of paper thin microphones, optothermal switching elements and skin-like electronics. Entropy-elastic elastomers form the basis for actuating elements, outlined by examples based on self organized actuating structures. Such materials can be also made functional by design, enabling fully reversible stretchable sensing elements for temperature, pressure and other physical parameters. INTRODUCTION Macroelectronics, in contrast to microelectronics is seeking to enlarge rather than shrink the area coverage of electronic components [1]. Such macroelectronic surfaces are usually not formed on silicon wafers but on substrates such as glass, plastics and even elastomers [2]. Thin glass and plastic substrates offer high mechanical flexibility, while elastomers additionally provide stretchability. Thereby electro-active surfaces of arbitrary shape can be processed with multifunctional properties, like distributed sensing of ambient parameters such as pressure and temperature changes [3]. Application scenarios include mass products in handheld mobile appliances, but also high technology solutions, such as artificial skin for full body tactile and temperature sensing. After initial reports of stretchable metal electrodes [4, 5], progress in the field is rapid, ranging from simple flexible sensor demonstrations [6-8] to fully advanced large area sensor arrays and circuits [9-12]. Several strategies for conformable electronic surfaces were outlined, like mechanically flexible ultra-thin ribbons of silicon on elastomers [12] or rigid islands on elastic surfaces [5]. Based on such concepts there is still large room for new developments of stretchable electro-active sensing materials.
Here we provide a short synopsis of our own efforts towards flexible and conformable sensing. Materials used comprise functionalized piezoelectric packaging foams [6], ferroelectric polymers [13], composites of ferroelectric polymers and ceramic nanoparticles [14] as well as composite
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