Toward 3D Printing Technologies for the Fabrication of Nanoscale Actuator Arrays

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Smart materials exhibit unique physical responses to external stimuli such as heat, voltage or magnetic fields, and enable engineers to add innovative new features and functions to their designs. One well-known family of smart materials consists of electroactive conductive polymers. These soft materials change shape in response to an electric field, and can therefore be harnessed to perform mechanical work.******The ultimate long-term goal of this new Research Program is to discover and develop the knowledge and innovative new tools required to fabricate conductive polymer actuator arrays with complex details on a very small scale (nanometers) by means of specially developed 3D printing technologies. To achieve this long-term vision, research effort in the next five years aims to combine newly developed polymer-based smart materials and emerging 3D printing techniques to fabricate novel mechanical components with unique properties.******The Program is organized into three subsequent phases, with each phase reflective of the primary research focus at the time: Phase 1 (years 0 to 4) relates to synthesis methods for the 3D printing of new smart material systems, and trains highly qualified personnel (HQP) through the establishment of the core technologies required to fabricate conductive polymer components and characterize their electro-chemo-mechanical behaviour. In Phase 2 (years 3 to 8), HQP are trained to employ these new materials and manufacturing techniques in order to investigate new and innovative applications. Finally, in Phase 3 (beyond year 5) HQP training is further enhanced by delving into research questions pertaining to fundamental scientific concepts; some of which are only made possible through the completion of the foundational phases. This proposal aims to fully execute Phase 1 and initiate Phase 2 in the course of the initial 5-year funding period.******Success of this Research Program opens the door for an entirely new class of smart material enabled devices that would be impossible to produce using conventional manufacturing processes, and the resulting actuator technology would be immediately useful in a variety of applications such as valves in microfluidics, single cell laboratories in biomedicine, and tunable fluid-surface interactions in surface engineering. This program pushes the frontier of additive manufacturing technology at a time of unparalleled growth and industrial interest, and is therefore anticipated to generate significant impact in Canada and abroad.