HOW IONIC LIQUIDS CAN AFFECT THE NANOSTRUCTURE OF FLUORINATED-BASED PIEZORESISTIVE POLYMER COMPOSITES

Smart materials, defined as materials with the ability to change their properties through the application of external physical stimuli and with high functionality in simplified structures, are gaining increasing interest to act as sensors and actuators. In this context, smart materials based on electroactive polymers have emerged as particularly attractive candidates and research in the area has been essentially focused on the development of actuators based on ionic electroactive polymer composites, allowing much larger deformations at a lower voltage than piezoelectric actuators. In particular, on the development of ionic liquid-based ionic electroactive polymers, obtained through the inclusion of ionic liquids (ILs) into the polymer matrix. ILs are salts, usually composed by an organic cation and an organic/inorganic anion. The interaction between the matrix and the ILs, and its impact on the final characteristics are not properly understood yet. Thus, several questions are still open and they need to be well-investigated. For instance, which is the influence of the matrix on the final structural organization? How does the composition affect the morphology? In order to answer all of them, the idea here is to propose SANS experiments, in two hybrid materials at different compositions with different structure.

智能材料（Smart materials）指可通过外部物理刺激改变自身性能、且在简化结构下具备高功能性的材料，目前其作为传感器与执行器的应用正受到日益广泛的关注。在此背景下，基于电活性聚合物（electroactive polymers）的智能材料已成为极具吸引力的研究方向；该领域的研究主要聚焦于离子电活性聚合物复合材料基执行器的开发，这类执行器相较压电执行器（piezoelectric actuators）可在更低驱动电压下实现更大幅度的形变。其中，通过将离子液体（ionic liquids, ILs）掺入聚合物基体（polymer matrix）中制备的离子液体基离子电活性聚合物，更是重点研究对象之一。离子液体本质为盐类，通常由有机阳离子与有机/无机阴离子构成。目前，聚合物基体与离子液体之间的相互作用，及其对材料最终性能的影响尚未得到充分阐释，因此仍存在诸多亟待深入探究的开放性问题。例如，基体对材料最终的微观结构组织有何影响？组分比例又会如何影响材料的形貌特征？为解答上述所有问题，本研究拟针对两种组分不同、结构各异的杂化材料开展小角中子散射（Small Angle Neutron Scattering, SANS）实验。