Piezoelectric microphone via a digital light processing 3D printing process

Tiller, B., Reid, A., Zhu, B., Guerreiro, J., Domingo-Roca, R., Jackson, J. C. and Windmill, J.F.C. (2019) Piezoelectric microphone via a digital light processing 3D printing process. Materials and Design, 165, 107593. (doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2019.107593)

Abstract

In nature sensors possess complex interlocking 3D structures and extremely localized material properties that allow processing of incredibly complex information in a small space. Acoustic sensor design is limited by fabrication processes, often MEMS based, where there is limited scope for fully 3D creations due to planer fabrication methods. Here we investigate the application of 3D printing via digital light processing (DLP) to integrate piezoelectric, conductive and structural polymer layers to create a complete electro-mechanical device. We demonstrate a working piezoelectric acoustic sensor, capable of sending electric signals that can be picked up by pre-amp circuitry fabricated using a commercially available 3D printer. We show that the 3D printing of mechanically sensitive membranes with thicknesses down to 35 μm and tunable resonant frequencies is possible and further show it is possible to create a fully working electro-acoustic device by embedding 3D printed piezoelectric and conductive parts. Realizing this design opens up the possibility of generating truly 3D structured functional prints that may be used in bio-inspired design.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013)/ERC Grant Agreement no. 615030, and received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 812938), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/L022125/1.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Domingo-Roca, Mr Roger
• Authors: Tiller, B., Reid, A., Zhu, B., Guerreiro, J., Domingo-Roca, R., Jackson, J. C., and Windmill, J.F.C.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Materials and Design
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0261-3069
• ISSN (Online): 1873-4197
• Published Online: 11 January 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Materials and Design 165: 107593
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
• Data DOI: 10.15129/f7d88ee2-14a9-42be-b3a8-54e7086f6e5e