Piezoelectric transducers based on vertically aligned PZT and graphene nanoplatelets

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11588097-B2
Application number	US-201916699084-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2019
Priority date	Oct 24, 2017
Publication date	Feb 21, 2023
Grant date	Feb 21, 2023

Abstract

A transducer is disclosed which includes lead zirconate titanate (PZT) particles mixed with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in a flexible substrate aligned in a first direction, forming a transducer subsystem, a first conductive protective electrode having a width and a length providing an electrical connectivity to an external circuit, a second conductive protective electrode having the width and the length providing an electrical connectivity to the external circuit, wherein the transducer subsystem is sandwiched between the first and second conductive protective electrodes.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A transducer, comprising:
lead zirconate titanate (PZT) particles mixed with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in a flexible substrate aligned in a first direction, forming a transducer subsystem;
a first conductive protective electrode having a width and a length providing an electrical connectivity to an external circuit;
a second conductive protective electrode having the width and the length providing an electrical connectivity to the external circuit;
wherein the transducer subsystem is sandwiched between the first and second conductive protective electrodes.

2. The transducer of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a an organic-based silicon polymer.

3. The transducer of claim 2 , wherein the organic-based silicon polymer is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) having a chemical formula of CH 3 [Si(CH 3 ) 2 O] n Si(CH 3 ) 3 , where n is a number of repeating monomer (SiO(CH 3 ) 2 ).

4. The transducer of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is a loudspeaker.

5. The transducer of claim 4 , wherein the loudspeaker has a frequency response between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz.

6. The transducer of claim 5 , wherein the loudspeaker produces a high-output Sound Pressure Level (SPL) of between about 0 dB and 80 dB measured by a microphone placed about 30 cm away from the loudspeaker.

7. The transducer of claim 4 , wherein the loudspeaker is (i) transparent, (ii) flexible, or (iii) both transparent and flexible.

8. The transducer of claim 7 , wherein the first and second conductive protective electrodes are made of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

9. The transducer of claim 8 , wherein the ITO-coated PET electrodes provide a light transmission of about 80% for light having a wavelength of between about 400 nm to about 2200 nm.

10. The transducer of claim 8 , wherein the ITO-coated PET electrodes provide a degree of flexibility between about 0° and 180°.

11. The transducer of claim 7 , wherein the first and second conductive protective electrodes are made of glass.

12. The transducer of claim 11 , wherein the first and second conductive protective electrodes are flat or curved.

13. The transducer of claim 4 , wherein the loudspeaker can be scalable in size up to about 6″ in width with length limited by a roll-to-roll machine.

14. The transducer of claim 1 , wherein the first and second conductive protective electrodes are stretchable.

15. The transducer of claim 1 , wherein the first and second conductive protective electrodes are made of conductive particles embedded in one of stretchable thermoplastic, elastomeric materials, and combination thereof.

16. The transducer of claim 15 , wherein the elastomeric materials is selected from the group consisting of silicon, synthetic rubbers, polyurethanes, and copolymers.

17. The transducer of claim 1 wherein the PZT particles and the GNPs are aligned via an electric field.

Assignees

• Purdue Research Foundation

Inventors

• Cakmak Mukerrem
• Yildirim Armen
• Rahimi Rahim

Classifications

• H10N30/878

  the principal material being non-metallic, e.g. oxide or carbon based · CPC title

• H10N30/875

  Further connection or lead arrangements, e.g. flexible wiring boards, terminal pins · CPC title

• H04R29/001

  for loudspeakers (H04R29/007 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04R2307/023

  Diaphragms comprising ceramic-like materials, e.g. pure ceramic, glass, boride, nitride, carbide, mica and carbon materials · CPC title

• H04R31/00

  Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of transducers or diaphragms therefor {(manufacture of microstructural arrangements of deformable or non-deformable structures in general B81C1/00182)} · CPC title