Federico Carpi

Bio: Federico Carpi is an academic researcher from University of Florence. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dielectric elastomers & Dielectric. The author has an hindex of 36, co-authored 162 publications receiving 6769 citations. Previous affiliations of Federico Carpi include Beijing University of Chemical Technology & Queen Mary University of London.

Dielectric elastomers as electromechanical transducers: Fundamentals, Materials, Devices, Models and Applications of an Emerging Electroactive Polymer Technology

Abstract: This book provides a comprehensive and updated insight into dielectric elastomers; one of the most promising classes of polymer-based smart materials and technologies This technology can be used in a very broad range of applications, from robotics and automation to the biomedical field The need for improved transducer performance has resulted in considerable efforts towards the development of devices relying on materials with intrinsic transduction properties These materials, often termed as "smart or "intelligent , include improved piezoelectrics and magnetostrictive or shape-memory materials Emerging electromechanical transduction technologies, based on so-called ElectroActive Polymers (EAP), have gained considerable attention EAP offer the potential for performance exceeding other smart materials, while retaining the cost and versatility inherent to polymer materials Within the EAP family, "dielectric elastomers , are of particular interest as they show good overall performance, simplicity of structure and robustness Dielectric elastomer transducers are rapidly emerging as high-performance "pseudo-muscular actuators, useful for different kinds of tasks Further, in addition to actuation, dielectric elastomers have also been shown to offer unique possibilities for improved generator and sensing devices Dielectric elastomer transduction is enabling an enormous range of new applications that were precluded to any other EAP or smart-material technology until recently This book provides a comprehensive and updated insight into dielectric elastomer transduction, covering all its fundamental aspects The book deals with transduction principles, basic materials properties, design of efficient device architectures, material and device modelling, along with applications * Concise and comprehensive treatment for practitioners and academics * Guides the reader through the latest developments in electroactive-polymer-based technology * Designed for ease of use with sections on fundamentals, materials, devices, models and applications

Stretching Dielectric Elastomer Performance

Abstract: The idea that a solid material can deform when stimulated by electricity originated in the late-18th century with observations of ruptures in overcharged Leyden jars, the first electrical capacitors. In 1776, Italian scientist Alessandro Volta mentioned in a letter that Italian experimenter Felice Fontana had noted volume changes in the Leyden jar upon electrification ( 1 ), an observation that launched a new field of investigation—“deformable” materials affected by electricity. More than two centuries later, the concept of “electrically stretchable materials” is at the forefront of devising bioinspired robots, tactile and haptic interfaces, and adaptive optical systems ( 2 , 3 ).

Bioinspired Tunable Lens with Muscle-Like Electroactive Elastomers

Abstract: Optical lenses with tunable focus are needed in several fields of application, such as consumer electronics, medical diagnostics and optical communications. To address this need, lenses made of smart materials able to respond to mechanical, magnetic, optical, thermal, chemical, electrical or electrochemical stimuli are intensively studied. Here, we report on an electrically tunable lens made of dielectric elastomers, an emerging class of “artificial muscle” materials for actuation. The optical device is inspired by the architecture of the crystalline lens and ciliary muscle of the human eye. It consists of a fluid-filled elastomeric lens integrated with an annular elastomeric actuator working as an artificial muscle. Upon electrical activation, the artificial muscle deforms the lens, so that a relative variation of focal length comparable to that of the human lens is demonstrated. The device combined optical performance with compact size, low weight, fast and silent operation, shock tolerance, no overheating, low power consumption, and possibility of implementation with inexpensive off-the-shelf elastomers. Results show that combing bioinspired design with the unique properties of dielectric elastomers as artificial muscle transducers has the potential to open new perspectives on tunable optics.

Electroactive polymer-based devices for e-textiles in biomedicine

Abstract: This paper describes the early conception and latest developments of electroactive polymer (EAP)-based sensors, actuators, electronic components, and power sources, implemented as wearable devices for smart electronic textiles (e-textiles). Such textiles, functioning as multifunctional wearable human interfaces, are today considered relevant promoters of progress and useful tools in several biomedical fields, such as biomonitoring, rehabilitation, and telemedicine. After a brief outline on ongoing research and the first products on e-textiles under commercial development, this paper presents the most highly performing EAP-based devices developed by our lab and other research groups for sensing, actuation, electronics, and energy generation/storage, with reference to their already demonstrated or potential applicability to electronic textiles

Biomedical applications of electroactive polymer actuators

Abstract: Preface. List of Contributors. Introduction. Polymer Gels. 1. Polymer Gel Actuators: Fundamentals (Paul Calvert). 1.1. Introduction and Historical Overview. 1.2. Properties of Gels. 1.3. Chemical and Physical Formation of Gels. 1.4. Actuation Methods. 1.5. Performance of Gels as Actuators. 1.6. Applications of Electroactive Gels. 1.7. Conclusions. References. 2. Bioresponsive Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications (Tom McDonald, Alison Patrick, Richard Williams, Brian G. Cousins and Rein V. Ulijn). 2.1. Introduction. 2.2. Chemical Hydrogels. 2.3. Physical Hydrogels. 2.4. Defining Bioresponsive Hydrogels. 2.5. Bioresponsive Chemical Hydrogels. 2.6. Bioresponsive Physical Hydrogels. 2.7. Electroactive Chemical Hydrogels. 2.8. Conclusion. References. 3. Stimuli-Responsive and 'Active' Polymers in Drug Delivery (Aram Omar Saeed, Johannes Pall MagnGBPsson, Beverley Twaites and Cameron Alexander). 3.1. Introduction. 3.2. Drug Delivery: Examples, Challenges and Opportunities for Polymers. 3.3. The emerging State of the Art Mechanisms In Polymer Controlled Release Systems. 3.4. Responsive or 'Smart' Polymers in Drug Delivery. 3.5. Recent Highlights of Actuated Polymers for Drug Delivery Applications. 3.6. Conclusions and Future Outlook. References. 4. Thermally Driven Hydrogel Actuator for Controllable Flow Rate Pump in Long-Term Drug Delivery (Piero Chiarelli and Pietro Ragni). 4.1. Introduction. 4.2. Materials and Methods. 4.3. Hydrogel Actuator. 4.4. Pump Functioning. 4.5. Conclusion. References. Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMC). 5. IPMC actuators: Fundamentals (Kinji Asaka and Keisuke Oguro). 5.1. Introduction. 5.2. Fabrications. 5.3. Measurement. 5.4. Performance of the IPMC Actuator. 5.5. Model. 5.6. Recent Developments. 5.7. Conclusion. References. 6. Active Micro-Catheter and Biomedical Soft Devices Based on IPMC Actuators (Kinji Asaka and Keisuke Oguro). 6.1. Introduction. 6.2. Fabrication of the IPMC Device. 6.3. Applications to Micro-Catheter. 6.4. Other Applications. 6.5. Conclusions. References. 7. Implantable Heart-Assist and Compression Devices Employing Active Network of Electrically-Controllable Ionic Polymeric Metal Nanocomposites (Mohsen Shahinpoor). 7.1. Introduction. 7.2. Heart Failure. 7.3. Background of IPMNCs. 7.4. Three-Dimensional Fabrication of IPMNCs. 7.5. Electrically-Induced Robotic Actuation. 7.6. Distributed Nanosensing and Transduction. 7.7. Modeling and Simulation. 7.8. Application of IPMNCs to Heart Compression and Assist In General. 7.9. Manufacturing of Thick IPMC Fingers. 7.10. Conclusions. References. 8. IPMC Based Tactile Displays for Pressure and Texture Presentation on a Human Finger (Masashi Konyo and Satoshi Tadokoro). 8.1. Introduction. 8.2. IPMC actuators as a Tactile Stimulator. 8.3. Wearable Tactile Display. 8.4. Selective Stimulation Method for Tactile Synthesis. 8.5. Texture Synthesis Method. 8.6. Display Method for Pressure Sensation. 8.7. Display method for roughness sensation. 8.8. Display method for friction sensation. 8.9. Synthesis of total textural feeling. 8.10. Conclusions. References. 9. IPMC Assisted Infusion Micropumps (Il-Seok Park, Sonia Vohnout, Mark Banister, Sangki Lee, Sang-Mun Kim and Kwang J. Kim). 9.1. Introduction. 9.2. Background of IPMC. 9.3. Miniature Disposable Infusion IPMC Micropumps. 9.4. Modeling for IPMC Micropumps. 9.5. Conclusions. References. Conjugated Polymers. 10. Conjugated Polymer Actuators: Fundamentals (Geoffrey M. Spinks, Gursel Alici, Scott McGovern, Binbin Xi and Gordon G. Wallace). 10.1. Introduction. 10.2. Molecular Mechanisms of Actuation in ICPs. 10.3. Comparison of Actuation Performance in Various ICPs. 10.4. Electrochemistry of ICPs. 10.5. Effect of Composition, Geometry and Electrolyte on Actuation of PPy. 10.6. Mechanical System Response. 10.7. Device Design and Optimization. 10.8. Future Prospects. References. 11. Steerable Catheters (Tina Shoa, John D. Madden, Nigel R. Munce and Victor X. D. Yang). 11.1. Introduction. 11.2. Catheters: History And Current Applications. 11.3. Catheter Design Challenges. 11.4. Active Steerable Catheters. 11.5. Discussion and Conclusion. References. 12. Microfabricated Conjugated Polymer Actuators for Microvalves, Cell Biology and Microrobotics (Elisabeth Smela). 12.1. Introduction. 12.2. Actuator Background. 12.3. Microfabrication. 12.4. Single Hinge Bilayer Devices: Flaps and Lids. 12.5. Multi-Bilayer Devices: Positioning Tools. 12.6. Swelling Film Devices: Valves. 12.7. Lifetime. 12.8. Integrated systems. 12.9. Conclusions. References. 13. Actuated Pins for Braille Displays (Geoffrey M. Spinks and Gordon G. Wallace). 13.1. Introduction. 13.2. Requirements for Electronic Braille screen. 13.3. Mechanical Analysis of Actuators Operating against Springs. 13.4. Polypyrrole Actuators for Electronic Braille Pins. 13.5. Other Polymer Actuation Systems for Electronic Braille Pins. 13.6. Summary. Acknowledgements. References. 14. Nanostructured Conducting Polymer Biomaterials and Their Applications in Controlled Drug Delivery (Mohammad Reza Abidian and David C. Martin). 14.1. Introduction. 14.2. Nanostructured Conducting Polymers. 14.3. Conducting Polymer Nanotubes for Controlled Drug Delivery. 14.4. Conclusions. Acknowledgements. References. 15. Integrated Oral Drug Delivery System with Valve Based on Polypyrrole (Thorsten Gottsche and Stefan Haeberle). 15.1. Introduction. 15.2. System Concept. 15.3. Osmotic Pressure Pump. 15.4. Polypyrrole in Actuator Applications. 15.5. Valve Concepts Evaluated in the Course of the Intellidrug Project. 15.6. Total assembly and Clinical Testing of the Intellidrug System. Acknowledgements. References. Piezoelectric and Electrostrictive Polymers. 16. Piezoelectric and Electrostrictive Polymer Actuators: Fundamentals (Zhimin Li and Zhongyang Cheng). 16.1. Introduction. 16.2. Fundamentals of Electromechanical Materials. 16.3. Materials Properties related to Electromechanical Applications. 16.4. Typical Electromechanical Polymers and Their Properties. 16.5. Conclusion Remarks. References. 17. Miniature High Frequency Focused Ultrasonic Transducers for Minimally Invasive Imaging Procedures (Aaron Fleischman, Sushma Srivanas, Chaitanya Chandrana and Shuvo Roy). 17.1. Introduction. 17.2. Coronary Imaging Needs. 17.3. High Resolution Ultrasonic Transducers. 17.4. Fabrication Techniques. 17.5. Testing Methods. 17.6. Results. 17.7. Conclusion. References. 18. Catheters for Thrombosis Sample in Blood Vessels Using Piezoelectric Polymer Fibers (Yoshiro Tajitsu). 18.1. Introduction. 18.2. Piezoelectricity of Polymer Film and Fiber. 18.3. Simple Measurement Method for Bending Motion of Piezoelectric Polymer Fiber. 18.4. Piezoelectric Motion of PLLA Fiber. 18.5. Elementary Demonstration of Prototype System for Catheters Using Piezoelectric Polymer Fiber. 18.6. Summary. References. 19. Piezoelectric Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) in Biomedical Ultrasound Exposimetry (Gerald R. Harris). 19.1. Introduction. 19.2. Needle Hydrophone Design. 19.3. Spot-Poled Membrane Hydrophone Design. 19.4. Application to Diagnostic Ultrasound. 19.5. Application to Therapeutic Ultrasound. 19.6. Conclusion. References. Dielectric Elastomers. 20. Dielectric Elastomer Actuators: Fundamentals (Roy Kornbluh, Richard Heydt and Ron Pelrine). 20.1. Introduction. 20.2. Basic Principle of Operation. 20.3. Dielectric Elastomer Materials. 20.4. Transducer Designs and Configurations. 20.5. Operational Considerations. References. 21. Biomedical Applications of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (John S. Bashkin, Roy Kornbluh, Harsha Prahlad and Annjoe Wong-Foy). 21.1. Introduction. 21.2. UMA-Based Actuators and Their Application to Pumps. 21.3. Mechanical Stimulation Using Thickness-Mode Actuation. 21.4. Implantable Artificial Diaphragm Muscle. 21.5. Implantable Artificial Facial Muscles. 21.6. Limb Prosthetics and Orthotics. 21.7. Mechanical Actuation for 'Active' Cell Culture Assays. 21.8. Conclusions. References. 22. MRI Compatible Device for Robotic Assisted Interventions to Prostate Cancer (Jean-Sebastien Plante, Lauren Devita, Kenjiro Tadakuma and Steven Dubowsky). 22.1. Introduction. 22.2. Prostate Cancer Therapy. 22.3. Elastically Averaged Parallel Manipulator Using Dielectric Elastomer Actuators. 22.4. Results. 22.5. Conclusions. Acknowledgements. References. 23. A Braille Display System for the Visually Disabled Using a Polymer Based Soft Actuator (Hyouk Ryeol Choi, Ig Mo Koo, Kwangmok Jung, Se-gon Roh, Ja Choon Koo, Jae-do Nam and Young Kwan Lee). 23.1. Introduction. 23.2. Fundamentals on Actuation Principle. 23.3. Design of Tactile Display Device. 23.4. Braille Display System. 23.5. Advanced Applications. 23.6. Conclusions. References. 24. Dynamic Splint-Like Hand Orthosis For Finger Rehabilitation (Federico Carpi, Andrea Mannini and Danilo De Rossi). 24.1. Introduction. 24.2. Passive Dynamic Hand Splints: State of the Art. 24.3. Active Dynamic Hand Splints: State of the Art. 24.4. Proposed Concept: Dynamic Splint Equipped with Dielectric Elastomer Actuators. 24.5. Splint Mechanics. 24.6. Dimensioning of the Actuators. 24.7. Prototype Splint. 24.8. Performances of the Prototype Splint. 24.9. Future Developments. 24.10. Conclusions. References. Index.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Ultracapacitors: Why, How, and Where is the Technology

Abstract: The science and technology of ultracapacitors are reviewed for a number of electrode materials, including carbon, mixed metal oxides, and conducting polymers. More work has been done using microporous carbons than with the other materials and most of the commercially available devices use carbon electrodes and an organic electrolytes. The energy density of these devices is 3¯5 Wh/kg with a power density of 300¯500 W/kg for high efficiency (90¯95%) charge/discharges. Projections of future developments using carbon indicate that energy densities of 10 Wh/kg or higher are likely with power densities of 1¯2 kW/kg. A key problem in the fabrication of these advanced devices is the bonding of the thin electrodes to a current collector such the contact resistance is less than 0.1 cm2. Special attention is given in the paper to comparing the power density characteristics of ultracapacitors and batteries. The comparisons should be made at the same charge/discharge efficiency.

25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E-Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress

Abstract: Human skin is a remarkable organ. It consists of an integrated, stretchable network of sensors that relay information about tactile and thermal stimuli to the brain, allowing us to maneuver within our environment safely and effectively. Interest in large-area networks of electronic devices inspired by human skin is motivated by the promise of creating autonomous intelligent robots and biomimetic prosthetics, among other applications. The development of electronic networks comprised of flexible, stretchable, and robust devices that are compatible with large-area implementation and integrated with multiple functionalities is a testament to the progress in developing an electronic skin (e-skin) akin to human skin. E-skins are already capable of providing augmented performance over their organic counterpart, both in superior spatial resolution and thermal sensitivity. They could be further improved through the incorporation of additional functionalities (e.g., chemical and biological sensing) and desired properties (e.g., biodegradability and self-powering). Continued rapid progress in this area is promising for the development of a fully integrated e-skin in the near future.