Photo-curable Polysiloxane Resins for Engineered Ferroelectret Films

Polymer ferroelectrets are light weight and flexible materials that display piezoelectric behaviour. These properties make them ideal for use as transducers in the aerospace industry. However, the traditional methods used to prepare high performance polymer ferroelectrets cannot be used for large scale manufacturing due to poor reproducibility or high cost. Furthermore, these manufacturing techniques rely on commercially available materials that are not intended for use as ferroelectrets. Due to these manufacturing challenges, polymer ferroelectrets have not been adopted for widespread use in industry. To address these barriers, we propose a novel two part approach that consists of: (1) developing polysiloxanes tailored to enhance the piezoelectric behaviour of the films and that are compatible with vat photopolymerization and (2) using vat photopolymerization to fabricate polysiloxane ferroelectret films with a highly ordered internal structure. Combining purpose made materials with an advanced additive manufacturing technique will allow for the fabrication of high performance ferroelectret films at an industrial scale. This will enable the industry partner to manufacture electronic devices incorporating polymer ferroelectrets.

Faculty Supervisor:

Aaron Price

Student:

Nicholas Francis Shaun Lanigan

Partner:

DAVWIRE

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Western University