The article gives an overview of current achievements in the field of ferroelectric polymers, with focus on materials containing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and discusses their current progress in the development of sustainable sensor systems.
Internet of Everything
The digital connection of humans, processes, machines and everyday objects introduces a new era - the era of the Internet of Everything (IoE). The basis for this digital connection is a sensor that enables things to detect physical or chemical properties of objects and machines and respond on them.
Sensors are already omnipresent in our interconnected world
With the advent of the Internet of Everything, future generations will use an unimaginably complex array of electronics in everyday life. This means that the number of used sensors will multiply considerably. Ferroelectric polymers represent a core group of materials supporting this rapid development. Since they are multifunctional, highly selective, highly responsive, perfectly scalable, self-powering and compatible with flexible and stretchable substrates, they can be easily integrated into the outer skin of numerous stand-alone objects as sensors for monitoring diverse mechanical, thermal and vital parameters. They can also be used in combination with other sensor materials for energy generation from mechanical and thermal sources, data storage and for actuation.
B. Stadlober, M. Zirkl, M. Irimia-Vladu: Route towards sustainable smart sensors: ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride-based materials and their integration in flexible electronics, Chemical Society Reviews, Issue 6, 2019