Salvatore Graziani
University of Catania, Italy
Title: Towards the realization of post-silicon smart systems: IPMC based sensors
Biography
Biography: Salvatore Graziani
Abstract
In next future, smart systems will be developed, capable of solving tasks in strategic fields such as bio inspired robotics, aerospace, and medicine, just to mention a few. These systems will be required to embed a number of functions including, electric power generation and storage, signal sensing and processing, and actuating capabilities. Also, their miniaturization and biocompatibility, will be of interest. "More than Moore" solutions will complement silicon based devices with new technologies. Polymeric materials are suitable for energy scavenging, for the realization of organic electronic devices, and for obtaining reversible energy transduction. Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMCs) are nanocomposited materials, with electromechanical transduction capabilities, relevant to the realization of post-silicon smart systems, since they have sensing, power harvesting and acting capabilities. The presentation will focus on IPMCs as a valuable technology towards the realization of sensing functionalities. More specifically, IPMCs as generating sensors, cantilevered vibrating sensors, and smart coupled actuating-sensing elements will be described. The possibility to exploit such sensing principles for the realization of sensing systems in fields such as fluids rheological properties measurements and medicine applications will also be shown. Finally, it will be shown how the research activity on IPMC sensors is a multidisciplinary task. IPMC are quite new materials and many efforts are still required before they can become a mature technology. To this aim attention will be given to the challenges imposed, by the envisaged applications, on production technologies and system modeling