A multi-layer core-shell structure CoFe2O4@Fe3C@NiO composite with high broadband electromagnetic wave-absorption performance.

Enhancing the absorption strength of electromagnetic waves and broadening the absorption band are constant goals in designing and preparing absorbing materials. The use of composites has shown to be a very efficient method for acquiring broadband-absorbing materials, while the construction of a core-shell structure has demonstrated a significant enhancement in absorption capability. In this paper, the nanocomposite metal-organic framework (MOF) derivative CoFe2O3@C with a double core-shell structure and the nanocomposite MOF derivative CoFe2O4@Fe3C@NiO with a three-layered core-shell structure have been prepared using a chemical compound. The multi-layer structure provides more active sites for the multiple reflection and scattering of electromagnetic waves, effectively improving the attenuation capability. The effective absorption band (EAB) (reflection loss (RL) ≤ -5 dB) of both CoFe2O3@C and CoFe2O4@Fe3C@NiO are broadened compared to that of the ZIF-67 derivative. In particular, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of CoFe2O3@C was -52.7 dB at 13.3 GHz and 2.04 mm, and the EAB (RL ≤ -5 dB) is as wide as 9.35 GHz. Compared with the ZIF-67 derivative, the EAB exhibits a twofold rise, accompanied by a corresponding thickness increase of just 0.24 mm. At a matched thickness of 2.2 mm, the EAB of CoFe2O4@Fe3C@NiO can even reach 11.9 GHz.

Eye tracking and eye expression decoding based on transparent, flexible and ultra-persistent electrostatic interface.

Eye tracking provides valuable insight for analyzing visual attention and underlying thinking progress through the observation of eye movements. Here, a transparent, flexible and ultra-persistent electrostatic sensing interface is proposed for realizing active eye tracking (AET) system based on the electrostatic induction effect. Through a triple-layer structure combined with a dielectric bilayer and a rough-surface Ag nanowire (Ag NW) electrode layer, the inherent capacitance and interfacial trapping density of the electrostatic interface has been strongly enhanced, contributing to an unprecedented charge storage capability. The electrostatic charge density of the interface reached 1671.10 µC·m-2 with a charge-keeping rate of 96.91% after 1000 non-contact operation cycles, which can finally realize oculogyric detection with an angular resolution of 5°. Thus, the AET system enables real-time decoding eye movements for customer preference recording and eye-controlled human-computer interaction, supporting its limitless potentiality in commercial purpose, virtual reality, human computer interactions and medical monitoring.

The Design and Evaluation of a High-Speed Jet Dispenser Driven by Single Piezoelectric Stack.

Droplet injection methods are widely used in the applications of microelectronic manufacturing, biological engineering, and 3-D printing. This work presents a new jet dispenser driven by a single piezoelectric stack that enables the capability of drop-on-demand patterning under a high working frequency (500 Hz). Due to the special designs of the jet dispenser, a broad range of liquids, whose viscosities span more than four orders of magnitude (21-665 320 cps), can be jetted. Moreover, a coupled Coulomb damping physical model is proposed, which includes an electromechanical and a dynamic model. Both the Coulomb and the fluid-solid damping are considered in the dynamic model. In order to validate the results obtained by using MATLAB/Simulink, the experiments were carried out. The injection performance of this jet dispenser has been tested by employing a self-made jetting platform. The minimum volume of a jetting droplet is about 14.4 nL with liquid wax. The error of volume uniformity among droplets does not exceed 8%, and the error of angle trajectory is about 0.17°. Furthermore, the versatility of the jet dispenser is demonstrated by printing liquid lubricant, food, glue, silver past, and a ceramic slurry in predefined patterns.

Reversible and High-Temperature-Stabilized Strain in (Pb,La)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 Antiferroelectric Ceramics.

Antiferroelectric (AFE) materials have a tremendous advantage as smart materials and large-strain actuators due to their unique reversible characteristic electric-field-induced strain (electrostrain) responses in comparison to piezoelectric effect and electrostriction. A key limitation to today's AFE actuators, however, is the poor temperature stability of electrostrain. In this work, a large reversible strain of 0.4% and an excellent thermal stability with a variation within ±5.5% from 20 to 190 °C were achieved for (Pb0.97La0.02)(Zr0.85Sn0.08Ti0.07)O3 (PLZST) AFE ceramics. A room-temperature electrostrain of 0.71% was obtained in virgin PLZST ceramics. It is intriguing to observe inconsistent strain curves between the first and further measured cycles, implying an incomplete reversible field-induced AFE-ferroelectric phase transition. A sharp electrostrain response in milliseconds was realized in the as-prepared PLZST ceramics. In addition, a phenomenological explanation was proposed to explain the extraordinary phenomena. Our results may shed light on the origin of the superior strain behaviors in AFE materials from the view of microscopic structure and macroscopic properties, and probably improve the understanding of the AFE phase transition.

Giant Negative Electrocaloric Effect in (Pb,La)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 Antiferroelectrics Near Room Temperature.

(Pb0.97La0.02)(Zr xSn0.94- xTi0.06)O3 (PLZST) antiferroelectric ceramics with x = 0.75-0.90 have been fabricated and found to be a novel electrocaloric material system with a giant negative electrocaloric effect (Δ T = -11.5 K) and a large electrocaloric strength (|Δ T/Δ E| = 0.105 K cm kV-1) near room temperature. Additionally, the PLZST antiferroelectric ceramic also exhibits a large positive electrocaloric effect around the Curie temperature. The giant negative effect and the coexistence of both positive and negative electrocaloric effects in one material indicate a promising possibility to develop mid- to large-scale solid-state cooling devices with high efficiency.

Phase transformations, anisotropic pyroelectric energy harvesting and electrocaloric properties of (Pb,La)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 single crystals.

(Pb,La)(Zr,Sn,Ti)O3 (PLZST) single crystals with their chemical composition located at the tetragonal antiferroelectric region are grown via the flux method in a PbO-PbF2-B2O3 mixture. Segregation of the Ti4+ component in the as-grown crystals is observed due to the strong affinity between the oxygen anion and Ti4+ ions. The critical electric field of the antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition is determined to be about 0.5 kV mm-1. The electric field induced ferroelectric phase transforms back into the antiferroelectric phase at a depolarization temperature of 125 °C. Anisotropy of the harvested energy density and electrocaloric behaviors are achieved for the [100], [110] and [111]-oriented PLZST crystals. Based on the thermodynamic theory approach, all the abovementioned behaviors originate from the anisotropic total entropy change. Enhanced electrocaloric strength (0.3 K mm kV-1) and the harvested energy density of 0.62 J cm-3 are obtained in the [111]-oriented PLZST crystals. Our results demonstrate the competence of PLZST single crystals for cooling devices and pyroelectric energy harvesting and provide new opportunities to improve energy harvesting density and electrocaloric properties via the anisotropic structural layout, which make the PLZST crystals attractive for solid state cooling devices and energy conversion technologies.

Ultrasonic micro-motor with multilayer piezoelectric ceramic and chamfered driving tips.

In this study, an oblate-type ultrasonic micro-motor with multilayer piezoelectric ceramic and chamfered driving tips was proposed and experimentally researched. The micro-motor works based on the standing-wave principle and has a higher rotary speed than the traditional standing-wave one in principle, reaching a rotary speed of 2100 r/min in this study at the voltage of 20 Vp-p. When the micro-motor rotates, single phase alternating current is required, namely, V=Asinωt, and exchanging the signal wire and ground wire will not change the rotary direction of the motor, which reinforces the safety and the compaction of this motor. The ratio of the maximum displacement value of the speed feeding direction and the preload direction is approximately 4, showing a characteristic of high speed and low ability to load.

Development of an ultrasonic linear motor with ultra-positioning capability and four driving feet.

This paper presents a novel linear piezoelectric motor which is suitable for rapid ultra-precision positioning. The finite element analysis (FEA) was applied for optimal design and further analysis, then experiments were conducted to investigate its performance. By changing the input signal, the proposed motor was found capable of working in the fast driving mode as well as in the precision positioning mode. When working in the fast driving mode, the motor acts as an ultrasonic motor with maximum no-load speed up to 181.2mm/s and maximum thrust of 1.7N at 200Vp-p. Also, when working in precision positioning mode, the motor can be regarded as a flexible hinge piezoelectric actuator with arbitrary motion in the range of 8µm. The measurable minimum output displacement was found to be 0.08µm, but theoretically, can be even smaller. More importantly, the motor can be quickly and accurately positioned in a large stroke.

A screw-thread-type ultrasonic actuator based on a Langevin piezoelectric vibrator.

A novel screw-thread-type ultrasonic actuator based on a Langevin piezoelectric vibrator, with an assembly comprised a threaded shaft, is presented. The bolt-clamped Langevin vibrator consists of 4 chips of PZT ceramics and generates more energy with a certain input power. The threads of the stator multiply the linear force and position resolution, and the threaded rod is rotated directly to achieve linear movement without additional mechanical conversion. The actuator was designed and optimized using the Finite Element Method (FEM), and a prototype was fabricated. At 300 Vp-p, the maximum thrust force, velocity, and efficiency were approximately 4.2 N, 9.5 mm s(-1), and 5.6%, respectively.

A disk-pivot structure micro piezoelectric actuator using vibration mode B11.

Micro piezoelectric actuator using vibration mode B(11) (B(mn), where m is the number of nodal circles, n is the nodal diameters) is designed. Different from conventional wobble-type ultrasonic motor using piezoelectric rod or cylinder, piezoelectric disc is used to excite wobble modes and metal cylinder stator is used to amplify the transverse displacement, metal rod rotor is actuated to rotate. The outer diameter of the actuator is 14mm. There are features such as low drive voltage, micromation, and convenient control of wobble state by modifying the structure of stator, etc. Finite element analysis (FEA) of the stator has been made. It is found that the resonant frequency of vibration mode B(11) is 49.03kHz, which is measured at 45.7kHz by the laser vibrometer and impedance analyzer. The rotation speed has been measured, which could be as high as 10,071rpm under an alternating current 100V. Such piezoelectric actuator can be optimized and adjusted to fit practical conditions. It can be applied in the fields of precise instrument, bioengineering and other micro actuator system.

Simulations and analysis of a piezoelectric micropump.

A number of micropumps have been proposed in the last few years based on different actuating principles and fabricated by different technologies. However, many of those micropumps have been designed taking into account primarily available microfabrication technologies rather than appropriate pump performance analysis. In fact, not all papers are available in the literature presenting theoretical models usable to describe the functioning and predict the performance of those micropumps. In this paper, we present a new micropump model and FEA method suitable for guiding the design and predicting the performance of a micropump actuated by a piezoelectric actuator. The model takes into account the influence of piezoelectric transducer and pump geometry. Simulations have been performed and compared with results of experiments on a prototype micropump fabricated in our laboratory.

High resolution miniaturized stepper ultrasonic motor using differential composite motion.

Experiments show that there is a limited minimum stepped angle in ultrasonic motors (USM). The research on the minimum angle of stepper USM with 15 mm in diameter and wobbling mode is being carried out. This paper presents a novel way to decrease the minimum stepped angle of USM based on the principle of differential composite motion (DCM), i.e. clockwise and counterclockwise rotation. The prototype was fabricated and experiments proved that this method is useful and also keeps a high torque for a large stepped angle. The stator of the prototype is steel, and rotor is fiberglass, antifriction material or steel. The prototype can operate well over 150 h with a 5 kHz wide frequency band. The minimum stepped angle is 46" using a coventional method while 12" using DCM method proposed in this paper.