SMARTPIEZOCOMPOSITE · Crystallization of Polymers in the Presence of Inorganic Nanoparticles - a Way Towards Piezoelectric 'Smart' Nanocomposites

The project proposal addresses field of ‘smart’ piezoelectric materials based on polymer-inorganic nanocomposites. The research will be divided into following main sub-streams: investigation of nanocomposites based on poly(vinylidene fluoride), investigation of materials based on poly(L-lactic acid) and study on the influence of differently shaped nanoparticles on crystallization and general phase behavior of the materials. For the purpose of this project, the nanocomposites will be prepared by compounding either in solution or in the melt and also by methods based on chemical synthesis. The main efforts will be directed at finding factors essentially affecting polymer-nanoparticle interactions in order to control both the polymorphism and mutual orientation of nanoparticles and structure units at the nanoscale. Achieving this goal is crucial as it defines the possibility to render the materials piezoelectric. It is expected that spatial orientation of anisometric nanoparticles in the molten polymer matrix will force the polymers to crystallize in certain preferred direction and crystal structure, which will enable formation of piezoelectric materials using simple methods typical for processing of thermoplastics as e.g. injection molding. From the technological point of view, such an improvement will allow to simplify the production methods of piezoelectric plastics and also will reduce the production costs of such materials. Currently, the state-of-the-art piezoelectric polymers are processed mainly to the form of foils and fibers, which limits the area of their possible application in devices. The main improvement proposed in this research relies on the possibility to process the nanostructured material to complex geometries, which will expand the field of potential application – especially in robotics, measuring devices and monitoring systems.