NIRT: Active Electromechanical Nanostructures Without the Use of Piezoelectric Constituents

NIRT：不使用压电元件的活性机电纳米结构

• 批准号: 0708096
• 负责人: Pradeep Sharma
• 金额: $ 121.85万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-08-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0708096&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NIRT; Active; Electromechanical; Nanostructures; Without

The objective of the proposed research is to promote a multi-disciplinary collaboration between theorists and experimentalists to understand and develop active nanostructured architectures such as nanocomposite skins and films that do not require any piezoelectric materials as constituents and in principle can be designed with any material combination. Modeling methods ranging from ab initio atomistic calculations to enriched continuum models will be employed to enhance understanding of flexoelectricity at the nanoscale and provide guidelines to select materials and engineer highly optimized, apparently piezoelectric nanostructures with the requisite symmetry, topology and size. The different topologies will be fabricated by precisely controlling the dispersion of suitably shaped nanoparticles in a polymer matrix (from soft elastomers to hard thermoplastics and thermosets) with external fields (flow, electrical & magnetic) as a means to tune the symmetry and provide the necessary 3-dimensional arrangement of the nanoinclusions. The expected benefits of the program will be both educational and societal. Anticipated research outcomes are an independence from Nature's limited selection of active electromechanical materials and an ability to design multifunctionality by assembling arbitrary non-active material combinations. Apart from resolutions of fundamental scientific questions related to piezoelectricity at the nanoscale, technological applications of the proposed research are anticipated in next generation actuators, sensors, MEMs and NEMs with consequent impact on diverse industries such as, Electronics, Space and Aerospace, Biomedical, Defense among others. The educational impact is that undergraduate and graduate students will be trained in emerging and interdisciplinary scholarly research. Research and education will be integrated by focusing on the education, outreach and recruitment through (1) Undergraduate summer research opportunities, (2) High School outreach using our existing NSF RET, REU and AGEP, and (3) Middle/High School student demonstrations. Research findings will be incorporated into courses, and broadly disseminated through conference presentations, scholarly publications, and the PIs's websites.

拟议研究的目的是促进理论家和实验家之间的多学科合作，以理解和开发活性纳米结构结构，例如不需要任何压电材料作为成分的纳米复合材料皮肤和薄膜，原则上可以用任何材料组合进行设计。从从头开始原子计算到丰富的连续介质模型的建模方法将用于增强对纳米尺度挠曲电的理解，并为选择材料和设计高度优化的、具有必要对称性、拓扑和尺寸的明显压电纳米结构提供指导。不同的拓扑结构将通过精确控制适当形状的纳米颗粒在聚合物基体（从软弹性体到硬热塑性塑料和热固性塑料）中的分散来制造，并利用外部场（流、电和磁）作为调整对称性并提供必要的手段。纳米夹杂物的 3 维排列。该计划的预期效益将是教育和社会方面的。预期的研究成果是独立于自然界对活性机电材料的有限选择，以及通过组装任意非活性材料组合来设计多功能性的能力。除了解决与纳米级压电性相关的基本科学问题外，所提议的研究的技术应用预计将在下一代执行器、传感器、MEM 和 NEM 中得到应用，从而对电子、航天、生物医学、国防等不同行业产生影响。除其他外。教育影响在于本科生和研究生将接受新兴和跨学科学术研究的培训。研究和教育将通过以下方式整合起来，重点关注教育、推广和招聘：(1) 本科生暑期研究机会，(2) 使用我们现有的 NSF RET、REU 和 AGEP 进行高中推广，以及 (3) 中/高中学生演示。研究成果将被纳入课程中，并通过会议演讲、学术出版物和 PI 网站广泛传播。