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Flexible and stretchable materials are increasingly being investigated for future technological platforms, polymer based materials being the most suitable candidates for those emerging technologies. This work reports on polymer based scintillator composites based on the thermoplastic elastomer Styrene-Ethylene/Butadiene-Styrene (SEBS) and Gd 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ scintillator nanoparticles, to form a polymer-based flexible and stretchable material for X-ray indirect detectors. Further, visible light yield under X-ray irradiation was improved by the inclusion of 2,5 dipheniloxazol (PPO) and (1,4-bis (2-(5-phenioxazolil))-benzol (POPOP) within the polymer matrix. Together with high levels of stretchability, with deformations up to 100%, the films exhibit suitable performance with low mechanical hysteresis (less than 1.5 MJ/m 3 for cycles up to 100% of strain) and reproducibly such as a scintillator material for the conversion of X-ray radiation into visible radiation. The decrease of just ∼13% of the X-ray radiation into visible light upon stretching up to 100% is attributed to a reduction of the effective filler concentration and proves the suitability of the developed materials for large area and stretchable X-ray radiation detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy harvesting efficiency of poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) spin coated films and its nanocomposites with piezoelectric BaTiO 3 have been investigated as a function of ceramic filler size and content. It is found that the best energy harvesting performance of ∼0.28 μW is obtained for the nanocomposite samples with 20% filler content of 10 nm size particles and for 5% filler content for the 100 and 500 nm size fillers. For the larger filler average sizes, the power decreases for filler contents above 5% due to increase of the mechanical stiffness of the samples. Due to the similar dielectric characteristics of the samples, the performance is mainly governed by the mechanical response. The obtained power values, easy processing and the low cost and robustness of the polymer, allow the implementation of the material for micro and nanogenerator applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer based smart materials and, in particular, piezoresistive ones, are increasingly being used in a wide variety of applications ranging from automotive components to medical devices. This work reports on water-based piezoresistive polymer composites developed from thermoplastic poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) filled with carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) for the fabrication of high performance piezoresistive materials and sensors. PVA is a water-soluble synthetic polymer with suitable mechanical properties for the development of large strain sensors. MWCNT/PVA nanocomposites with good linearity between deformation and electrical resistance variation and with gauge factors up to 3 were achieved. Further, the materials were formulated in the form of inks for spray and screen printing of the sensors, which demonstrated a good performance for strain sensing both under laboratory tests conditions and when connected to a readout and communication system. Therefore, polymer based piezoresistive sensors were developed by a green approach and capable to be implemented by scalable printing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer based scintillator composites have been produced by combining poly(vinylidene fluoride), PVDF, and Gd 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ scintillator nanoparticles. Additionally, 2,5 dipheniloxazol (PPO) and (1,4-bis (2-(5-phenioxazolil))-benzol (POPOP) were introduced in the polymer matrix in order to improve visible light yield under x-ray irradiation. It is shown that addition of PPO and POPOP has no influence on the polymer structure, increases dielectric constant from ∼7 to ∼14, which is suitable for improving energy resolution, and increases in 40% the overall transduction performance of the composite without sacrificing its homogeneity and transparency. Thus, the developed Gd 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ /PPO/POPOP/PVDF composites are appropriate for large area X-ray radiation detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]