SBIR Phase I: Unconventional Low Cost Production of High Performance Electroactive Polymers

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种新的低成本和安全的方法来合成电活性聚合物（EAP）。目前，EAP是用传统的直接共聚方法生产的，使用昂贵且危险的单体。该方法具有爆炸的危险，并且EAP非常昂贵。新工艺将开发一种间接方法，通过使用低成本和市售单体来合成没有电活性行为的聚合物，该聚合物将在第二步中使用特殊催化剂转化为所需的EAP。这种新方法提供了一种非传统的工艺来制造低成本和高安全性的EAP。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是创造一种商业上可行的工艺来生产专业智能EAP，否则对于实际应用来说可能不经济。低成本和安全的工艺将使高性能EAP的价格降低100倍以上，因此它们对于商业应用将是成本有效的，例如具有高能量密度的能量存储电容器、具有高效率的电热效应冷却装置、将机械能转换为电的能量收集模块、以及用于微创手术的先进致动装置、全页盲文显示器、和触觉反馈。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a novel low-cost and safe approach to synthesis electroactive polymers (EAPs). Currently the EAPs are produced with a traditional direct copolymerization process using an expensive and dangerous monomer. The process has the danger of explosion and the EAPs are prohibitively expensive. The new process will develop an indirect approach by using low-cost and commercially available monomers to synthesis a polymer without electroactive behavior, which will be converted to the desired EAP in a second step using a special catalyst. This new approach provides an unconventional process to manufacture the EAP with low cost and high safety.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to create a commercially viable process for producing specialty smart EAPs that might not otherwise be economical for practical applications. The low-cost and safe process will reduce the price of the high performance EAPs by more than 100-times so they will be cost effective for commercial applications such as energy storage capacitors with high energy density, electrocaloric effect cooling devices with high efficiency, energy harvesting modules to convert mechanical energy to electricity, and advanced actuation devices for minimally invasive surgery, full-page braille displays, and haptic feedback.