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AFM Characterization of Electroactive Polymer Nanocomposites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Ricardo Pérez ,
Zoubeida Ounaies ,
Peter Lillehei  and
Joycelyn Harrison
Ricardo Pérez
Affiliation:
rperez@tamu.edu, TAMU, Aerospace, H. R. Bright building, College Station, Texas, 77843-3141, United States, (979) 845 0714, (979) 845-6051
Zoubeida Ounaies
Affiliation:
zounaies@tamu.edu, TAMU, Aerospace, United States
Peter Lillehei
Affiliation:
peter.t.lillehei@nasa.gov, NASA LaRC, United States
Joycelyn Harrison
Affiliation:
Joycelyn.s.harrison@larc.nasa.gov, NASA LaRC, United States
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Abstract

An AFM-based method is used to probe the electromechanical response of a polyimide-SWNT nanocomposite at the nanoscale level. Our previous investigations on bulk polyimide-SWNT nanocomposites using a fiber optic sensor-based method have shown that the nanocomposites are electroactive and exhibit a quadratic relationship between output displacement and input voltage. In the current study, the composites are probed at the nanoscale using the AFM in contact mode. One goal of the current study is to assess the AFM-based technique in measuring our nanocomposites and verifying their actuation. A second goal is to improve the methodology itself by characterizing a commercially available piezoelectric ceramic, PZT, and a commercially available piezoelectric polymer, PVDF. The experiments are conducted in contact mode under the application of a DC voltage. Values for the strain piezoelectric coefficients d33 are widely reported in the literature and consequently permit to calibrate the methodology applied in the present work.

These findings, coupled with bulk film characterization will be used to shed light on the polyimide-SWNT interaction and its effect on the electroactive mechanism displayed by the nanocomposites.

Keywords

ferroelectricpolymercomposite
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 889: Symposium W – Electroresponsive Polymers and Their Applications , 2005 , 0889-W03-03
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

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