| Piezoelectric and conducting polymer materials have recently been studied for potential use in a variety of sensor and actuator applications. In each case, an applied stress or an asymmetric bending motion results in either the generation of a voltage or a change in resistance. A microacoustic sensor has been designed that is made up of conducting polymer coated nanofiber materials. The fabrication process involves the direct polymerization of the active sensor material as a thin film, 50-200 nm thick on non-conductive polymer fibers, such as polylactide (PLA). The PLA thin film is coated with polypyrrole by in situ-deposition. The coaxial fiber structures show a smooth morphology as observed by SEM analysis of a non-woven polymer mat. Building on the actuator response reported for conducting polymers such as polypyrrole, we have been exploring the application of these new materials as acoustic sensors. Here we report the synthesis and preparation of aligned fibrous materials, chemically coated with conducting polymers by in situ deposition.; Piezoelectric materials such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) are an alternative to conducting polymers for use as active sound and pressure sensors. We have used electrospinning and poling techniques to fabricate nanofibers of PVDF for evaluation as components of hearing aide sensors. Following both corona and contact poling experiments, IR was used to confirm the orientation of the polymer dipoles into either the alpha or beta phase. The result is a better understanding of the role that electrospinning can play in the poling process for future designs of sound sensing materials. |
