A method of forming a voided polymer includes forming a polymerizable composition containing a polymer precursor and a solid templating agent, forming a coating of the polymerizable composition, processing the coating to form a cured polymer material having a solid phase in a plurality of defined regions, and removing at least a portion of the solid phase from the cured polymer material to form a voided polymer layer.

A structure including an electro-active-polymer (“EAP”). The structure can take the form of a strap, which includes two or more EAP film layers. The structure can further include one or more holders or end-grabbing portions. Methods of making and using the EAP structure are also envisioned.

An example device includes a nanovoided polymer element, which may be located at least in part between the electrodes. In some examples, the nanovoided polymer element may include anisotropic voids, including a gas, and separated from each other by polymer walls. The device may be an electroactive device, such as an actuator having a response time for a transition between actuation states. The gas may have a characteristic diffusion time (e.g., to diffuse half the mean wall thickness through the polymer walls) that is less than the response time. The nanovoids may be sufficiently small (e.g., below 1 micron in diameter or an analogous dimension), and/or the polymer walls may be sufficiently thin, such that the gas interchange between gas in the voids and gas absorbed by the polymer walls may occur faster than the response time, and in some examples, effectively instantaneously.

A compact system for optimizing energy harvesting efficiency using of very thin (less than 10 μm thickness) PVDF films. The system is comprised of a flexible substrate such as polypropylene (PP) or Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that supports PVDF thin films sandwiched between two aluminum electrode sheets. The PVDF films may be fabricated at different selected thicknesses by increasing spin rates. The PVDF films may also be fabricated in various different stacking arrangements in order to further allow the electrode to more efficiently produce energy.

Methods for producing layered structures that include a conductive polymeric layer and a dielectric polymeric layer. The dielectric polymeric layer can be formed by curing a first volume of a dielectric polymeric material. A second volume of the dielectric polymeric material is doped with conductive particulates to yield a conductive polymeric material, which is then partially cured and solvated to create a conductive polymeric paste. The paste is applied to a surface of the dielectric polymeric layer, dried, and cured to form a conductive polymeric layer on the pre-strained dielectric polymeric layer yielding a layered structure that includes the conductive polymeric layer and the dielectric polymeric layer. A pre-strain is induced in the dielectric polymeric material by contacting a chemical thereto that causes swelling therein.

A multilayer substrate includes a stacked body including first and second flexible insulating base material layers, and an actuator conductor pattern on at least the first insulating base material layer. The stacked body includes a first region including stacked first and second insulating base material layers, and a second region including stacked second insulating base material layers. The first region includes an actuator function portion in a portion thereof, the actuator function portion including the actuator conductor pattern. The thickness of the first insulating base material layer including the actuator conductor pattern is smaller than the thickness of one second insulating base material layer.

A flexible and soft smart driving device comprises a flexible frame, a driving mechanism and a creeping structure. The driving mechanism uses an intrinsic strain of an intelligent soft material to generate a driving force. A creeping structure is used to implement autonomous activities of the flexible and soft smart driving device. The driving mechanism and the creeping structure are attached to the flexible frame. The driving mechanism generates the driving force by contraction and relaxation of a driving membrane. The flexible and soft smart driving device is made from flexible materials and has advantages of good creeping speed, flexible control, small noise and high human body compatibility.

A polymer for organic ferroelectric materials and an organic ferroelectric materials are disclosed. The polymer is a (meth)acrylic polymer, wherein the polymer comprises one or more (meth)acrylates as main monomer units and one or more (meth)acrylic monomers other than the main monomer units, wherein the main monomer units are (meth)acrylate monomer units having in the side chain thereof a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon skeleton linked to the distal end of the oxycarbonyl group, wherein the hydrocarbon skeleton has a hydrogen atom on the β-carbon atom relative to the oxycarbonyl group, and one or more electron withdrawing groups selected from halogen atom, cyano group, oxo group, and nitro group, that bind to the β-carbon atom and/or to one or more carbon atoms distal thereto, substituting for hydrogen atoms thereon, wherein the proportion of the main monomer units is less than 80 mol % of the total (meth)acrylic monomer units.

An object is to provide a laminated piezoelectric element capable of preventing a short circuit between adjacent piezoelectric films and an electroacoustic transducer using the laminated piezoelectric element. The object is solved by laminating a plurality of layers of piezoelectric films polarized in a thickness direction, in which a piezoelectric layer is interposed between two thin film electrodes, and causing polarization directions of the adjacent piezoelectric films to be opposite to each other.

A tactile presentation device is provided with: a glove worn on the hand of a user; polymer actuators attached to a base fabric of the glove; a control device which controls the polymer actuators; and an array of haptic stimulators driven by the polymer actuators. The tactile presentation device drives the haptic stimulators using the polymer actuators through the application of a voltage to the polymer actuators by means of the control device, and performs tactile presentation to the skin of the hand of the user by driving the haptic stimulators. The polymer actuators are capable of causing the haptic stimulators to be displaced by at least 100 μm when the frequency of the applied voltage is 1 to 30 Hz and more preferably 1 to 100 Hz.