Additive Manufacturing of 3D Conductive Polypyrrole Transducers (AM-3DCPT)

3D 导电聚吡咯传感器的增材制造 (AM-3DCPT)

• 批准号: 548813-2020
• 负责人: Price, Aaron
• 金额: $ 9.11万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Idea to Innovation
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=701045
• 关键词: Additive; Manufacturing; 3D; Conductive; Polypyrrole

- Background: There is a growing trend in automation technologies to mimic the muscle-driven movements observed in nature. As such, there is a demand for soft artificial muscles that cannot be constructed from traditional rigid parts and motors. Specialized materials have been employed in the early development of these soft actuators, however they are difficult to fabricate into reliable devices, which remains one of the key challenges in the creation of compliant actuators and sensors for automation. - Challenge: Conjugated polymers (CPs) possess unique properties that allow them to convert energy from one form to another, rendering them ideal candidates for soft actuators and sensors. However, CP are typically prepared as simple thin-films or powders which has hindered their wide-spread adoption. Therefore, new functional materials and manufacturing processes are essential to fully exploit the potential of these materials. - Innovation: Our solution to this challenge is a patent-pending innovation combining a novel Material and its concomitant Manufacturing Process that yields 3D CP structures via the digital light processing (DLP) additive manufacturing process. CP structures fabricated through this process incorporate fine 3D features, addressing one of the major limitations associated with conventional CP fabrication. This capability offers a novel mechanism to achieve unmatched CP performance to realize new devices with integrated multidimensional actuation and sensing capabilities. - Objective & Impact: The objective of Phase I of this I2I project is to develop and optimize our prototype CP materials and DLP fabrication technology to further advance this innovation towards commercialization. Currently, we have support of three leading organizations (Bürkert Fluid Control Systems, FESTO, and DAVWIRE) to test our prototypes. This novel technology will impact a broad range of scientific and industrial fields, and new devices developed through this innovation are particularly well-suited for healthcare as dispensers for lab-on-a-chip devices and related medical diagnostic sensors.

-背景：模仿自然界中观察到的肌肉驱动运动的自动化技术有越来越大的趋势。因此，对柔软的人造肌肉的需求是无法由传统的刚性部件和电机构建的。在这些软致动器的早期开发中已经采用了专门的材料，但是它们很难制造成可靠的设备，这仍然是创建兼容的致动器和自动化传感器的关键挑战之一。