Abstract
Polymeric-ceramic smart nanocomposite piezoelectric and dielectric materials are of interest due to their superior mechanical flexibility and ability to leverage characteristics of constituent materials. A great deal of work has centered on development of processes for manufacturing 0–3 continuity composite piezoelectric materials that vary in scale ranging from bulk, thick and thin film to nanostructured films. Less is known about how material scaling effects the effectiveness of polarization and electromechanical properties. This study elucidates how polarization parameters: contact versus corona, temperature and electrical voltage field influence the piezoelectric and dielectric properties of samples as a function of their shape factor, i.e., bulk versus thick film. Bulk and thick film samples were prepared via sol gel/cast-mold and sol gel/spin coat deposition, for fabrication of bulk and thick films, respectively. It was found that corona polarization was more effective for both bulk and thick film processes and that polarization temperature produced higher normalized changes in samples. Although higher electric field voltages could be achieved with thicker samples, film samples responded the most to coupled increases in temperature and electrical voltage than bulk samples.
Highlights
Piezoelectric and dielectric materials are ubiquitously used as sensors, actuators and transducers over a wide range of applications including but not limited to process control [1,2], industrial and automotive monitoring systems [3,4,5], medical diagnostics [6,7], aviation and aerospace structural health monitoring [8,9], embedded passive devices [10,11], and resonators and filters in telecommunications [12]
Three-phase piezoelectric (0-3-0) composites that are composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), lead zirconate titanate (Pb ZrxTi(1−x) O3–Navy IV) and a two-part epoxy-DGEBA, EpofixTM Cold-setting embedding resin were fabricated via a modified sol gel/spin coat and deposition process onto stainless steel bottom electrodes
The piezoelectric strain coefficients and dielectric constants in the PZT-epoxy-MWCNT thick film composites are plotted as a function of polarization voltage for the corona/contact poling methods in Figures 7 and 8, respectively
Summary
Piezoelectric and dielectric materials are ubiquitously used as sensors, actuators and transducers over a wide range of applications including but not limited to process control [1,2], industrial and automotive monitoring systems [3,4,5], medical diagnostics [6,7], aviation and aerospace structural health monitoring [8,9], embedded passive devices [10,11], and resonators and filters in telecommunications [12]. The novelty of this work is that it presents a comprehensive and wholistic analysis of the polarization process as a function of geometrical scaling of the samples that have the same composition This method of analysis allows for a more accurate comparison of polarization techniques, as opposed to other reviews of similar samples that have different matrix materials and/or filler sizes and geometries. This manuscript examines the coupled influences of polarization parameters: temperature and voltage, and material sample shape, i.e., disk (bulk) and thick film. This work is an initial step towards the careful consideration of how material scaling may be contextualized for application to large scale manufacturing techniques
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
