SBIR Phase I: Unconventional Low Cost Production of High Performance Electroactive Polymers

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a novel low-cost and safe approach to synthesis electroactive polymers (EAPs). Currently the EAPs are produced with a traditional direct copolymerization process using an expensive and dangerous monomer. The process has the danger of explosion and the EAPs are prohibitively expensive. The new process will develop an indirect approach by using low-cost and commercially available monomers to synthesis a polymer without electroactive behavior, which will be converted to the desired EAP in a second step using a special catalyst. This new approach provides an unconventional process to manufacture the EAP with low cost and high safety. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to create a commercially viable process for producing specialty smart EAPs that might not otherwise be economical for practical applications. The low-cost and safe process will reduce the price of the high performance EAPs by more than 100-times so they will be cost effective for commercial applications such as energy storage capacitors with high energy density, electrocaloric effect cooling devices with high efficiency, energy harvesting modules to convert mechanical energy to electricity, and advanced actuation devices for minimally invasive surgery, full-page braille displays, and haptic feedback.