ERC project Smart Core

Smart core/shell nanorod arrays for artificial skin · ERC Starting Grant no. 715403

The project integrates temperature and humidity together with pressure sensing in a single novel hybrid material. An array of stimuli-responsive nanorods is created on a surface to fabricate an efficient device for artificial-skin applications. The nanorods have a core–shell structure made of a multi-stimuli-responsive smart material and a piezoelectric ZnO shell. Environmental stimuli such as humidity or temperature changes are sensed by the smart material, which changes size and shape; the ZnO shell detects these changes and transforms them into measurable voltage pulses thanks to its piezoelectric properties.

More on the CORDIS results-in-brief page.

Smart material design

Scientific papers

Tunability of critical temperature Thickness-dependent swelling Humidity sensing Humidity response Wrinkling of stimuli-responsive surfaces Temperature-dependent drug release Mesh-size dependent drug release Review on controlled drug delivery Quantitative analysis of copolymers by IR spectroscopy

Deposition of piezoelectric ZnO

Scientific papers

PEALD at room temperature Initial growth Piezoelectricity Porous ZnO Piezoresistive polymer PEALD at high temperatures Annealing of ZnO Infiltration of ZnO Extra porous ZnO ALD software

All-in-one deposition system

Multi-chamber deposition system — Photo: Lunghammer, TU Graz

A multi-chamber system combines iCVD and plasma-enhanced ALD without breaking the vacuum, so hybrid core/shell structures and multilayers can be grown in one run. See also the equipment page.

Integrated sensor device

Multi-responsive actuators Artificial skin