Provided herein are substituted haloimidazole crystals, the substituted haloimidazole crystal comprising a substituted haloimidazole compound wherein the substituents are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl, and a halogen. The substituted haloimidazole crystals may further comprise second substituted haloimidazole. The substituted haloimidazole crystals may be piezoelectric, ferroelectric, flexible, or any combination thereof. Also provided herein are methods for preparing substituted haloimidazole crystals.

Provided is a piezoelectric substrate, containing an elongate piezoelectric body that is helically wound, in which the piezoelectric body includes an optically active polypeptide, a length direction of the piezoelectric body and a main orientation direction of the optically active polypeptide included in the piezoelectric body are substantially parallel to each other, and the piezoelectric body has a degree of orientation F of from 0.50 to less than 1.00, as determined from X-ray diffraction measurement by the following Formula (a):
Degree of orientation F=(180°−α)/180°  (a) in Formula (a), α represents a half width (°) of a peak derived from orientation.

Described herein are aspects of a three-dimensional (3D) piezoelectric structure that can be composed of a 3D periodic microlattice that can be composed of a piezoelectric composite material, wherein the 3D periodic microlattice can include a plurality of interconnected 3D node units capable of generating a piezoelectric response upon application of a stress to the 3D periodic microlattice, and wherein the plurality of interconnected 3D node units can form a tailored piezoelectric tensor space. Also described herein are systems that can include one or more of the 3D piezoelectric structures described herein. Also described herein are methods of making and using the 3D piezoelectric structures described herein.

Provided are a method of manufacturing a shear and normal force sensor including fabricating raised and sunken polymers having a plurality of bent parts of bent shapes, forming an electrode pattern on one surface of a piezoelectric element, and embedding the piezoelectric element between the raised and sunken polymers, and a shear and normal force sensor including raised and sunken polymers having a plurality of bent parts of bent shapes, a piezoelectric element embedded between the raised and sunken polymers and having an electrode pattern on one surface, and a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) embedded between the sunken polymer and the piezoelectric element and electrically connected to the electrode pattern.

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.

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.

A piezoelectric stack includes a porous resin sheet, and a surface coating layer disposed on an exterior surface of the porous resin sheet, the exterior surface including at least one of a front surface and a back surface of the porous resin sheet, the surface coating layer having a volume resistivity of not less than 1×10.sup.13 Ω.Math.cm, the porous resin sheet and the surface coating layer having different elastic moduli.

Sensing an environment by confining a monitored live subject in an enclosure, detecting an effect on a coaxial piezoelectric cable resulting from the monitored live subject, wherein the coaxial piezoelectric cable is located at least proximate to the enclosure, and deriving information about a state of the monitored live subject based on the detected effect.

An object of the present invention is to improve the piezoelectricity of a PVT having the VDF ratio of 82 to 90% represented by a copolymer, in which copolymerization of vinylidene fluoride VDF and trifluoroethylene TrFe is 85 versus 15 (this is written as PVT85/15, and which is excellent in resistance to deformation, and heat resistance, etc. And therefore, it is also to obtain a piezoelectric film having piezoelectricity exceeding a PVT of less than 82 mol % of VDF represented by a PVT75/25, which conventionally shows the highest piezoelectricity, and a method of producing the same.

A piezoelectric film is made of a mixture of two kinds (for example, a first copolymer is PVT85/15 and a second copolymer is PVT75/25) having different polymerization ratios of vinylidene fluoride VDF and trifluoroethylene TrFE.