Alternative processing routes for electroactive functional polymers
Chemical physicist Achidi Frick investigated a new type of 3D printing to make smart plastics work better and faster.
Frick’s research focused on creating "smart" plastic films using a material called PVDF-TrFE. These plastics are piezoelectric, meaning they turn physical pressure into electricity and vibrate when they receive an electrical signal. Currently, making these films is slow and complicated, often requiring researchers to stretch the plastic or zap it with high voltage. These old methods struggle to create complex 3D shapes and cannot compete with common materials that contain toxic lead.
Frick investigated whether a new type of 3D printing could make these smart plastics work better and faster, and which specific products would benefit most. He was motivated to 3D print these materials in high detail without the usual extra steps. This breakthrough could lead to safe medical sensors for the body, flexible chargers that harvest energy from movement, and soft robots that can "feel" what they touch.
Wearable and biomedical devices
The work demonstrates a fast, single-step route to 3D print piezoelectric PVDF-TrFE films with high performance at very low active-material content, which can directly benefit engineers developing flexible pressure sensors, micro-actuators, and energy harvesters where conventional brittle ceramics are impractical or toxic. These results are particularly relevant for wearable and biomedical devices, soft robotics, and embedded sensing in miniaturized components, where mechanically compliant, biocompatible, and microstructured architectures are crucial. In the near term, DWVML-printed films could be prototyped into self-powered wearable health monitors or implantable pressure sensors that conform to tissue. On a longer timescale, the FeRAM-focused part of the thesis informs designers of flexible memory and neuromorphic systems, where PVDF-based ferroelectrics may enable low-power, non-silicon, thin-film memory in emerging electronics tied to the Internet of Things and smart medical devices.
The research combined experimental fabrication, advanced characterization, and critical literature review. First, photoactive PVDF-TrFE-based resins were formulated and processed into thin films using different photochemical routes, including a rapid volumetric 3D-printing method. These films were then characterized in the laboratory with techniques such as atomic force-based piezoresponse microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy to link processing conditions, microstructure, and piezoelectric performance. In parallel, an extensive literature review on ferroelectric polymers and computer memory concepts was carried out to place the PVDF family in the context of existing and emerging memory technologies, including FeRAM and neuromorphic systems. This combination of lab experiments and synthesis of published work made it possible to both demonstrate a practical proof-of-concept for 3D-printed piezoelectric films and evaluate the broader potential and limitations of PVDF-based materials in future electronic devices.
More information on the thesis
