Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) direct printing for sensors and actuators

This paper represents a polymeric piezoelectric manufacturing process for sensing and actuation applications. The electric poling-assisted additive manufacturing (EPAM) process combining additive manufacturing (AM) with polymeric poling process has been recently introduced. This process keeps piezoelectric polymer dipoles well-aligned and uniform over a large area in a single-step direct printing process. Here, the EPAM process was employed to directly print polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer; sensing and actuation performance was tested with dynamometer, a baseline comparison measuring instrument. Also, the plasma-assisted poling process that potentially increases piezoelectricity was briefly introduced and discussed with a preliminary result. As a result, this study promises new multi-functional materials, novel designs, and approaches in a single AM and fabrication step by combining AM with piezoelectric polymer poling methods in convenient, fast, and precise manner.