Title
Additive Manufacturing of Piezoelectric Force Sensors
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2022
Abstract
Piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene), or PVDF-trFE, has enabled unprecedented flexible and dynamic force sensors due to its mechanical robustness and biocompatibility. This study focuses on additive manufacturing of PVDF-trFE thin film sensors using an nScrypt micro-dispenser. PVDF-trFE ink composition, substrate treatment, and printer settings were first investigated to ensure consistent and uniform printing. Post-processing procedures, including curing and electrical poling, were then analyzed experimentally. The effectiveness of the manufacturing procedure was quantified in terms of piezoelectric coefficients. By using commercially-available electrically conductive silver inks, a force sensor consisting of a PVDF-trFE film sandwiched by silver electrodes were prototyped.
Publication Information
White, Amanda; McKibben, Nicholas; and Deng, Zhangxian. (2022). "Additive Manufacturing of Piezoelectric Force Sensors". In Proceedings of SPIE (Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) series, Volume 12042, no. 1204207). SPIE: Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2613008