Polymer nanocomposites incorporating inorganic nanofillers have emerged as highly promising electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials, combining mechanical compliance with robust conductive percolation networks. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are particularly attractive as conductive fillers because their high aspect ratio facilitates percolation at low loadings. Also, CNTs offer superior mechanical durability under deformation compared to rigid, fracture-prone metal nanowires. For EMI shielding, high electrical conductivity is critical as it enhances both reflection and absorption through efficient charge dissipation and conduction losses. However, achieving highly aligned conductive pathways without degrading the intrinsic electrical properties of CNTs remains a significant challenge. Here, we demonstrate a non-destructive magnetic surface-functionalization and alignment strategy. Using a polydopamine (PDA)-mediated route, pristine multiwalled CNTs are uniformly decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles (FMWCNTs). This enables highly effective magnetic field-driven alignment at fields as low as 10 mT, promoting the strategic formation of percolation networks. By optimizing the Fe₃O₄/MWCNT ratio for high saturation magnetization and uniform coverage, the aligned FMWCNTs exhibit significant electrical anisotropy, delivering a 10.7-fold higher electrical conductivity in the parallel configuration compared to the vertical configuration. These findings present a scalable, room-temperature platform for engineering directionally enhanced conductivity in polymer nanocomposites, with broad applicability in advanced EMI shielding, flexible electronics, and advanced packaging technologies.
This review examines the use of halide perovskite materials in electronic devices, highlighting their exceptional optoelectronic properties and the challenges associated with them. Despite their potential for high-performance devices, practical applications are limited by sensitivity to environmental factors such as moisture and oxygen, etc. We discuss advances in enhancing stability and operational reliability, featuring innovative synthesis methods and device engineering strategies that help mitigate degradation. Furthermore, we explore the integration of perovskites in applications such as field-effect transistors and LEDs, emphasizing their transformative potential. This review also outlines future research directions, stressing the need for ongoing improvements in material stability and device integration to fully realize the commercial potential of perovskites.
According to the recent global warming, it is necessary to use energy efficiently together with eco-friendly energy. The development of alternative technologies is requisite for managing the current energy and climate crises. In this regard, “smart windows,” which can control solar radiation, can be used to mitigate energy demands. Electrochromic devices (ECDs) effectively control the amount of solar energy reaching commercial and other living areas and maintain climate conditions via color modulation in response to small external stimuli, such as temperature and light irradiation. However, the performance and the stability of ECDs depend on the state of the electrolyte and sealing of the device. To resolve the aforementioned issues, an ECD was manufactured by using a poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE), and a laminating method was used to adequately seal the ECD. The concentrations of PMMA, acetonitrile (ACN), and ferrocene (Fc) were controlled to optimize the composition of the GPE to achieve an enhanced electrochromic performance. The fabricated GPE-based ECD afforded high optical contrast (~81.92%), with high electrochromic stability up to 10,000 cycles. Moreover, the lamination method employing the GPE could be used to fabricate large-area ECDs.
Novel self-illuminated smart windows were fabricated consisting of Cu-doped ZnS (ZnS:Cu) powder and polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC). This smart window shows not only switchable transparency but also self-illumination without any attachable luminous body. Its electro-optical characteristics, transmittance, and luminance were investigated in relation to various applied voltages and composition ratios. The optical transmittance and luminous intensity increased with increasing applied voltages. However, the optical transmittance decreased with increasing ZnS:Cu powder content. One of the self-illuminated smart windows, which was fabricated with 9 wt% of ZnS:Cu, achieved the optical transmittance of 60.5% (at 550 nm) and the luminance of 11.0 cd/m2 at 100 V. This smart window could be used as a normal switchable smart window in daytime and light-emitting signage at night.
Morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), which is a special boundary that separates two or multiple different phases in the phase diagram of some ferroelectric ceramics, is an important concept in identifying physics that includes piezoelectric responses. MPB, which had not been discovered in organic materials until recently, was discovered in poly(vinylidene fluoride-co- trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)), resulting from a molecular approach. The piezoelectric coefficient of P(VDF-TrFE) in this MPB region was achieved up to -63.5 pC N-1, which is about two times as large as the conventional value of -30 pC N-1 of P(VDF-TrFE). An order-disorder arrangement greatly affects the rise of the piezoelectric effect and the ferroelectric, paraelectric and relaxor ferroelectric of P(VDF-TrFE), so the arrangement and shape of the polymer chain is important. In this review, we investigate the origin of negative longitudinal piezoelectric coefficients of piezoelectric polymers, which is definitely opposite to those of common piezoelectric ceramics. In addition to the mainly discussed issue about MPB behaviors of ferroelectric polymers, we also introduce the consideration about polymer chirality resulting in relaxor ferroelectric properties. When the physics of ferroelectric polymers is unveiled, we can improve the piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties of ferroelectric polymers and contribute to the development of next-generation sensor, energy, transducer and actuator applications.
Thermoelectric (TE) heating and cooling devices, which are able to directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy and vice versa, are effective and have exhibited a potential for energy harvesting. With the increasing consumer demands for various wearable electronics, organic-based TE composite materials offer a promise for the TE devices applications. Conductive polymers are widely used as flexible TE materials replacing inorganic materials due to their flexibility, low thermal conductivity, mechanical flexibility, ease of processing, and low cost. In this review, we briefly introduce the latest research trends in the flexible TE technology and provide a comprehensive summary of specific conductive polymer-based TE material fabrication technologies. We also summarize the manufacture for high-efficiency TE composites through the complexation of a conductive polymer matrix/inorganic TE filler. We believe that this review will inspire further research to improve the TE performance of conductive polymers.
Since 2010, polymer-based magnetoelectric (ME) composites have been developed with detailed investigations of multiferroic properties such as piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, and magnetoelectric, etc. In particular, as a piezoelectric polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride) and its co-polymers have been widely used in ME composites for energy harvesting, health monitoring, environment treatment, and bio-medical applications. In this study, main research trend and selected experimental results of polymer-based ME composites are briefly reviewed with respect to composite structure as well as application field. A conclusion was drawn that the polymer-based ME composites would be feasible as flexible devices or functional membranes in the near future.
Wrinkle patterns were fabricated on styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymer substrates using ion-beam (IB) irradiation with various intensities. The wavelength of the wrinkle pattern increased as the IB intensity was increased from 800 to 1,600 eV. IB irradiation-induced changes in the surface properties that were confirmed via physicochemical surface analyses. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed chemical surface reformation due to the IB irradiation, resulting in C-O/C=O bonds after IB irradiation that were not reported before. These results indicate that the surface chemical modification caused by IB irradiation is strongly related to the surface modulus, which is important when fabricating wrinkle patterns. Furthermore, a strong IB irradiation induced a strong compressive strain; thus the size of the wrinkle pattern was increased.
In this paper, we investigated the surface properties of polymer insulators to improve electrical insulation performance. First, after washing the polymer insulator in various ways, its contact angle was increased, thereby improving the hydrophobic properties and electrical insulation properties. In addition, TiO2 thin films, which have been used as a photocatalytic material and have been applied to the polymer insulator surface of to enhance the surface and electrical insulating properties. For the sputtering method, the contact angle after coating the TiO2 thin film increased with increasing RF power, but it was lower compared to that before coating, indicating that the hydrophobic properties of the surface were slightly deteriorated. Consequently, the electrical properties of the polymer-insulating material were maintained or improved after the TiO2 thin-film coating.
An experimental study was conducted using the tracking wheel test (IEC 62217) method for evaluating the performance of insulator materials, in particular ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and silicone rubber. In addition, we studied the tracking characteristics resulting from applying the same method for the shape of the insulator housing, that is, the performance of regular and alternating sheds. The evaluation parameters were leakage current, surface characteristics, SEM, EDX, hydrophobicity, and temperature distribution; likewise, we applied the commercial frequency dry (and wet) flashover voltage test. We found that the regular shed had a greater leakage current than the alternating shed and that the recovery of the hydrophobicity in terms of rest time was greater than that of the EPDM in terms of leakage current. All of the regular-shed insulators of silicone rubber had tracking traces and choking on the sheath parting line, while the alternating shed showed only choking at the interface but no tracking traces. Therefore, it can be concluded that the commercial frequency wet flashover voltage of the silicone rubber with regular shed before and after the tracking wheel test is higher than that of the alternating shed.
Herein, we report the fabrication of low-voltage N-type organic field-effect transistors by using high capacitance fluorinated polymer gate dielectrics such as P(VDF-TrFE), P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), and P(VDF-TrFE-CFE). Electronwithdrawing functional groups in PVDF-based polymers typically cause the depletion of negative charge carriers and a high contact resistance in N-channel organic semiconductors. Therefore, we incorporated intermediate layers of a low-k polymerto prevent the formation of a direct interface between PVDF-based gate insulators and the semiconducting active layer. Consequently, electron depletion is inhibited, and the high charge resistance between the semiconductor and source/drain electrodes is remarkably improved by the in corporation of solution-processed charge injection layers.
In this study, we examine the electrical properties of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) containing polymer semiconductors that have been reported to show high performance with ambipolar characteristics. We prepared three different DPP based polymer semiconductors (PDPPTPT, PDPP3T, and PDPP2T-TT) and fabricated organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with ambipolar polymer semiconductors as an active layer. All three DPP polymers showed only p-type properties at initial measurements. However, after annealing in vacuum oven for 24 hours, it was found that the DPP based polymers have both p-type and n-type properties. It is speculated that the residual impurities supposedly regarded as a strong electron trap source were eliminated during the vacuum process.
The power conversion efficiency of organic polymer solar cells was enhanced by introducing a ferroelectric polymer layer at the interface between active layer and metal electrode. The power conversion efficiency was increased by 50% through the enhancement of the open circuit voltage. To investigate the role of the ferroelectric layer on the dissociation process of the excitons, non-radiative portion of the exciton decay was directly measured by using photoacoustic technique. The results show that the ferroelectric nature of the buffer layer does not play any roles on the dissociation process of the excitons, which indicates the efficiency enhancement is not due to the ferroelectricity of the buffer layer.
We demonstrate the utilization of ion gel gate dielectrics for operating non-volatile transistor memory devices based on polymer semiconductor thin films. The gating process in typical electrolyte-gated polymer transistors occurs upon the penetration and escape of ionic components into the active channel layer, which dopes and dedopes the polymer film, respectively. Therefore, by controlling doping and dedoping processes, electrical current signals through the polymer film can be memorized and erased over a period of time, which constitutes the transistor-type memory devices. It was found that increasing the thickness of polymer films can enhance the memory performance of device including (i) the current signal ratio between its memorized state and erased state and (ii) the retention time of the signal.
In this paper, we fabricated flexible CNT/PVDF (carbon nanotube / polyvinylidene fluoride) piezoelectric composite device with flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) : polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) conducting polymer electrode using spray coating method. We tried to improve the piezoelectric performance from the CNT/PVDF composite film by enhancing electrical conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS electrodes. Electrical conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS electrode was enhanced by dipping it into the EG (ethylene glycol) solvent. Changes of chemical composition of the PEDOT:PSS electrode were analyzed with the dipping time by XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) in terms of oxygen (O1s). Finally, Piezoelectric performances such as output voltage and current were measured with the dipping time. We found that enhanced electrical conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS electrodes resulted in improvement of the piezoelectric performance of the CNT/PVDF films.
In this paper, we investigated the relations between dispersion of CNTs (carbon nanotubes) and electrical conductivity in the CNT/PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) composite film. By adding hydrophobic CNTs as filler into the PVDF matrix, we fabricated hydrophobic and electrically conducting polymer coating film. Dispersion of CNTs in the CNT/PVDF composite film plays a significant role in terms of electrical conductivity and wetting property. Spray coating method was used to form the CNT/PVDF composite films by injecting the dispersed CNTs in the PVDF solution with different weight ratios from 0.7 wt% to 7 wt%. We investigated the electrical properties and contact angles of the CNT/PVDF composite films with the CNT concentration. Finally we discussed the conducting mechanism and feasibility of the CNT/PVDF composite film for the conducting polymer films.
The purpose of this study is examining thermal dissipation materials for the lighting and radiate efficiency improvement of 8W LED and confirming the properness of the thermal dissipation materials for LED heat sink. Solid Works flow simulation on 8W class COB was done based on the material characteristics of thermal conductive polymer materials. According to the result of simulation, Al had better thermal dissipation performance than PET. Highest temperature was 7.6℃ higher while lowest temperature was 7.8℃ lower. The test on the heat sinks made by the materials, highest temperature was 4.1℃ higher and lowest temperature was 3.9℃ lower. It is possible to confirm that Al heat sink has better thermal dissipation efficiency because it has better dispersion of heat generated at junction temperature and less heat cohesion. The weight of PET heat sink was reduced than Al heat sink by 46.9% by the density difference between Al and PET. In conclusion, thermal dissipation performance of thermal conductive polymer is lower than Al material however, it is possible to lighting heat sink because thermal conductive polymer has better formability, has lower specific weight and enables various design options.
The characteristics of dielectric constant and tanδ of low viscosity silicone oils with changing degree of polymerization were investigated. The result shows dipole loss mechanism at low temperature range. The dielectric loss in the range of low frequencies are predominantly of ionic nature with temperature increase. The peak of dielectric loss is the detrapping of the electrons which is were trapped in the localized level of the silicone oils at the frequency of 30 kHz. The increase of ionic conduction is attributed to the presence of ionizable oxidation products and their increased dissociation feature. The activation energy △H and dipole moment μd were increased whit increasing degree of polymerization.
We design, develope and test a parallel active polymer pen lithography (PPL) device, which consists of individually addressable elastomeric probe tips. The PPL array chip is fabricated using soft lithography method with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. Individual probe can be pneumatically actuated via a computer controlled interface. We demonstrate parallel writing with 16 individually addressed pens, with each pen producing a different pattern in the same run. The largest proof-of-concept array fabricated is 4×4 with a spacing of 250 μm in both x and y axes.
We have fabricated blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) on a plastic substrate. The solution coated poly (9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) host doped with Bis (3,5-difluoro-2-(2-pyridyl)phenyl_(2-carboxypyridyl)irdium(III) (FIrPic) guest molecules was used as an hole transporting emission layer. The device structure was ITO/PVK:FIrpic (50 nm, xwt%)/TAZ 50nm)/LiF (0.5 nm)/Al (100 nm). The concentration of FIrpic molecule was varied from 1 wt% to 10 wt%. The OLED on plastic substrate exhibited maximum current efficiency of 18 cd/A with 5 wt% FIrpic molecules were doped into the PVK layer.
For conventional electrical actuators, the materials are mainly made up of metals, which mean they are prone to corrosion and electrical sparking. Replacing these systems with polymer metal composite based materials can be solved both problems. Considering their excellent clcctromechanical property, low device fabricatioI1 cost, light weight, and go electrical conductivity, the actuator based on ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) was fabricated using Nafion film, NaOH 0. l molar solution, and Au electrode. IPMCs exhibit good electrostatic property which means they can in principle be used in making actuators based on electromechanical motions. The resistance measurements or Nafion film after soaking in NaOH and deionized water were demonstrated and compared each other. The result of samPle soaked in NaOH showed better ejcal conductivity thall in deionized water. The fabricate匕1 IPMC actuator exhibits a l large deformation of bending dusplacement of approximately 9 mm with applied low AC voltage 6.89 V at 2. 84 Hz. The result of computer simulation was also very similar and shown as a bending displacement of 8. 6085 mm.
The composites composed of conducting polymer (MEH-PPV), CdTe nanoparticles, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were spectroscopically and electrically characterized in their thin films. The composite films were prepared by spray coating. These composites were prepared from the mixture solution of MEH-PPV and CdTe-embedded MWNTs, in which CdTe nanoparticles were electrostatically bound to MWNTs. UV/vis and PL spectra were analyzed to investigate the optical absorbance and emission of the composite films. In addition, their structural, electrochemical, and electrical properties were studied by transmission electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and I-V measurement.
We introduced sensitizing dyes into the bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic (PV) layer of polymer solar cells (PSCs). The sensitizing dyes doped were Bis(tetra butyl ammonium) cis-dithio cyanato bis(2,2`-bipyridine-4-carboxylicacid-4`-carboxylate) ruthenium (II) (N719 dye) and the BHJ PV layer used was made of poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). It was found that the N719 dyes increase the photovoltaic performance, i.e., increasing open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density with improved fill factor. For the P3HT: PCBM PV cells doped with the N719 dyes (0.24wt %), an increase in power conversion efficiency of 4.0% was achieved, compared to that of the control cells (3.6%) without the N719 dyes.
We present the results of a study of the polarizing photovoltaic (PV) effects in an aligned polymer bulk heterojuction PV layer. The fairly uniform in-plane uniaxial alignment of the PV layer with a macroscopic axial orientational order parameter of 0.40 was achieved by means of a simple rubbing technique. Moreover, reflective polarizing PSCs having the aligned PV layers were applied to power-generating reflective type liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which exhibited a maximum contrast ratio of 1.7. These results form a promising foundation for various energy harvesting polarization dependent opto-electrical LCD device applications.
We investigated the dielectric and mechanical properties of ceramic polymer composite xBNT - (1-x)LCP (x= 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 vol.%). The disk shaped BNT (BaNd2Ti4O12) - LCP (liquid crystal polymer) composite samples were prepared by compression molding method. With increasing the BNT content in composites from 10 to 40 vol.%, the dielectric constant increased but the dielectric loss as well as bending strength of composites reduced. These composites were well described with modified Lichtenecker`s model having k = 0.392 and 0.303 for the first and second ball milled BNT filled composites, which means that the BNT filler in composites are well dispersed. The dielectric constant of the composite comprised of the second milled BNT (D50 = 1.39 um) was higher that of the composite of the first milled BNT (D50= 2.45 um), which seems to be related with the different particle size and dispersion of BNT fillers in LCP matrix. The bending strength of the composite containing the second milled BNT was superior to that of the composite of the first milled BNT.
We introduced nanoscale interfacial layers between the PV layer and the cathode in poly (3-hexylthiophene):methanofullerene bulk-heterojunction polymer photovoltaic (PV) cells. The nanoscale double interfacial layers were made of ultrathin poly (oxyethylenetridecylether) surfactant and low-work-function alloy-metal of Al:Li layers. It was found that the nanoscale interfacial layers increase the photovoltaic performance, i.e., increasing short-circuit current density and fill factor with improved device stability. For PV cells with the nanoscale double interfacial layers, an increase in power conversion efficiency of 4.18 ± 0.24% was achieved, compared to that of the control devices (3.89 ± 0.08%) without the double interfacial layers.