TY - JOUR
T1 - High-Frequency Surface Dynamics at an Electroactive Polymer Producing Underwater Soundwaves
AU - Visschers, Fabian L.L.
AU - Massaad, Jack
AU - van Neer, Paul L.M.J.
AU - Verweij, Martin D.
AU - Liu, Danqing
AU - Broer, Dirk J.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Coatings with dynamic surface structures are appealing to many applications like haptics and soft robotics. Restrictively, the speed of the surface dynamics in these coatings is often limited to frequencies below 1 kHz, which makes them unsuitable for applications like acoustics and communication optics. This work describes a method to create high-frequency surface dynamics controlled by alternating electric fields on a substrate-contact-modulated coating that consists of an elastic poly(dimethyl siloxane) network supported by SU-8 microstructures. The principle is based on the global application of Maxwell stress that is locally resisted by the supporting SU-8 microstructures. In-between the microstructures the elastic material is stretched, causing a large deformation of the surface topography, which is supported by the authors’ finite element method models. By applying a high-frequency alternating field, they discovered resonance effects at frequencies up to 230 kHz, where the surface of the coating vibrates at high speeds and large amplitudes. At these high frequencies, the coatings can produce and detect ultrasound waves underwater, indicating their potential for ultrasound transducers in the future.
AB - Coatings with dynamic surface structures are appealing to many applications like haptics and soft robotics. Restrictively, the speed of the surface dynamics in these coatings is often limited to frequencies below 1 kHz, which makes them unsuitable for applications like acoustics and communication optics. This work describes a method to create high-frequency surface dynamics controlled by alternating electric fields on a substrate-contact-modulated coating that consists of an elastic poly(dimethyl siloxane) network supported by SU-8 microstructures. The principle is based on the global application of Maxwell stress that is locally resisted by the supporting SU-8 microstructures. In-between the microstructures the elastic material is stretched, causing a large deformation of the surface topography, which is supported by the authors’ finite element method models. By applying a high-frequency alternating field, they discovered resonance effects at frequencies up to 230 kHz, where the surface of the coating vibrates at high speeds and large amplitudes. At these high frequencies, the coatings can produce and detect ultrasound waves underwater, indicating their potential for ultrasound transducers in the future.
KW - AC electric fields
KW - acoustics
KW - dynamic surfaces
KW - Maxwell stresses
KW - PDMS
KW - SU-8
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124827265&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/adfm.202110754
DO - 10.1002/adfm.202110754
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124827265
SN - 1616-301X
VL - 32
JO - Advanced Functional Materials
JF - Advanced Functional Materials
IS - 21
M1 - 2110754
ER -