Synthesis of novel stimuli responsive dielectric polymers and their use in powerful transducers

Project Information

TRANS

Grant agreement ID: 101001182

DOI

10.3030/101001182

EC signature date 20 January 2021

Start date 1 May 2021

End date 30 April 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 999 715,00

EU contribution

€ 1 999 715,00

Coordinated by

EIDGENOSSISCHE MATERIALPRUFUNGS- UND FORSCHUNGSANSTALT
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TRANS (Synthesis of novel stimuli responsive dielectric polymers and their use in powerful transducers)

Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2024-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This ERC CoG will build a strong multidisciplinary group concentrating on synthesizing novel functional dielectric polymers that are printed into devices capable of converting one form of energy into another. Research spans from materials synthesis and optimization via device engineering to the exploration of manifold applications. TRANS develops novel high-dielectric permittivity and piezoelectric elastomers with unprecedented properties and uses them as active components in devices for emerging technologies. The devices are of high technological and scientific importance and exhibit substantial economic and societal impact. They reversibly change their shape in response to an electric field, generate electricity when mechanically stretched, cool while using little energy, convert thermal energy directly into electricity and, finally, store electricity in the form of batteries. The polymers developed in TRANS combine either unprecedentedly high dielectric permittivity with a high dielectric breakdown field or piezoelectric properties with high elasticity. They can potentially revolutionize different fields of applications, such as actuators, sensors, energy harvesting, artificial muscles, soft robotics, energy storage, stretchable electronics, and solid-state refrigeration. A particularly important aspect concerns the synthesis of scalable, environmentally friendly, easy-to-apply, and processed printable inks, which are the active ingredients of various devices.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Results achieved during this project were published in open-access journals. Additionally, the results were presented at different conferences.

Publications
F. Okur, Y. Sheima, C. Zimmerli, H. Zhang, P. Helbling, A. Fäh, M. Iacob, J. Tschudin, D. M. Opris*, M. V. Kovalenko*, K. V. Kravchyk*, Nitrile-functionalized Poly(siloxane) as Elec-trolytes for High-Energy-Density Solid-State Li Batteries, ChemSusChem, accepted, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202301285

Y. Sheima, R. R. Venkatesan, H. Frauenrath, D. M. Opris*, Synthesis of polysiloxane elas-tomers modified with sulfonyl side groups and their electromechanical response. J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 7367-7376.
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TC00200D

J. von Szczepanski, D. M. Opris*, High-permittivity polysiloxanes for solvent-free fabrication of dielectric elastomer actuators, Adv. Mater. Technol., 2023, 8(2), 2201372 (9 pp.).
https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202201372

F. Owusu*, T. R. Venkatesan, F. A. Nüesch, R. M. Negri, D. M. Opris*, How to make elas-tomers piezoelectric? Adv. Mater. Technol., 2023, 8(15), 2300099 (25 pp.)
https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202300099

J. von Szczepanski, E. Roels, G. Siqueira, P. M. Danner, J. Wolf, J. Legrand, J. Brancart, S. Terryn, G. van Assche, B. Vanderborght, D. M. Opris*, Printable polar silicone elastomers for healable supercapacitive strain sensors. Adv. Mater. Technol., 2023, 2301310 (10 pp.).
https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202301310

Y. Adeli, F. A. Nüesch, D. M. Opris*, "Photo-crosslink bottlebrush polymers for voltage-driven artificial muscles", ACS Appl. Mater. Interf., 2023, 15(16), 20410-20420.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c23026
F. Owusu, F. A. Nüesch, D. M. Opris*, "Stretchable High Response Piezoelectric Elastomers Based on Polable Polynorbornene Fillers in a Polydimethylsiloxane Matrix", Adv. Funct. Ma-ter., 2022, 8, 2207083.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202207083

Y Sheima, J von Szczepanski, PM Danner, T Künniger, A Remhof, H. Frauenrath, D. M. Opris*, "Transient Elastomers with High Dielectric Permittivity for Actuators, Sensors, and Beyond", ACS Appl. Mater. Interf., 2022, 14, 46257.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c05631

J. von Szczepanski, P. M. Danner, D. M. Opris*, "Self-healing, high-permittivity polysilox-anes for recyclable dielectric elastomer actuators", Adv. Sci., 2022, 9, 2202153.
https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202201372

P. Danner, M. Iacob, G. Sasso, I. Burda, B. Rieger, F. Nüesch, D. M. Opris*, "Solvent-free synthesis and processing of conductive elastomer composites for "green" dielectric elastomer transducers", Macromol. Rapid. Commun., 2022, 43, 2100823.
https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202100823

F. Owusu, M. Tress, F. A. Nüesch, S. Lehner, D. M. Opris*, "Synthesis of polar poly-norbornenes with high dielectric relaxation strength as candidate materials for dielectric appli-cations", Mater. Adv. 2022, 3, 998-1006.
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MA00704A

M. Iacob, A. Verma, T. Buchner, Y. Sheima, R. Katzschmann, D. M. Opris*, "Slot-Die Coating of an On-the-Shelf Polymer with Increased Dielectric Permittivity for Stack Actuators", ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2022, 4, 150–157.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.1c01135

More information can be found at:
https://www.empa.ch/web/s209/functional-polymeric-materials

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

While a limited number of light-emitting capacitive devices with electroluminescence similar to our materials have been reported, our devices demonstrate clear superiority in that the matrix is fluorine-free and thus environmentally friendly.
Polysiloxane functionalized with thiopropionitrile proved to be very useful in solid-state Li-ion batteries.
An unexpected outcome emerged with the self-segregation of bottlebrush polymers carrying PDMS side chains and a polar group on the polynorbornene backbone, resulting in free-standing films upon solution casting. We are excited about this discovery because it holds the potential for designing new dielectric materials with tunable properties.
After project termination, the group will expand the fundamental understanding of the relationship between structure and dielectric properties. It will be able to provide inks printed in prototype devices that are responsive to electricity, heat, or mechanical stress as well as a polymer solid electrolyte for Li-ion batteries.

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