Nano-inks for soft robotics computation

Much effort has been made to develop soft robotics in the past decade due to their outstanding comfortability that is the main drawback of the conventional rigid robotics. Dielectric elastomer (DE) electronics are inherently  exible and stretchable, which can meet the requirements of soft robotics to realize driving, sensing, monitoring and controlling. However, integration and fabrication of these individual structures on one single DE substrate, to produce a multi-functional electronic component, still remains demanding. This work involves the design, fabrication, and characterization of a dielectric elastomer inverters that will combine one switch unit and one actuation unit together on one pre-stretched

DE  lm. Inverters are the core component for soft bio-inspired computing device based on DEs. The target of this work is to develop piezoresistive inks that achieve at least four orders magnitude change of resistance under certain mechanical stretch.

The focus of this thesis is to apply ultrasonic spray coating and other production technologies, to identify the effects of varying geometry of the switch patterns, such as length, width, and shape, on the piezoresistive properties of the inverter. The manufactured samples will be experimentally study and compared with regards to their piezoresistive behavior. One task will be the comparison of different filler materials, such as carbon black (CB), carbon nanotube (CNT), and graphene suspension; Prepare nano-composites of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) with carbon black (CB), carbon nanotubes (CNT), and graphene, respectively. These nanocomposites will be be integrated into to inverters for building up a soft robotic demonstrator.

Schwerpunkte der Arbeit

• State-of-the-art literature review regarding production technology and inks for DE manufacturing

• Development of new inks

• Improvement of production technology

• Development of demonstrators

Ansprechpartner

M.Sc. Jianan Yi

MIE, Room 212

+49 351 463-36482

Jianan.Yi@tu-dresden.de

Dr.-Ing. E.-F. Markus Henke

MIE, Raum 113

+49 351 463-39962

markus.henke@tu-dresden.de