Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP
Sensors and Actuators
Sensors are indispensable in today's world. But mostly ceramic materials are used. They can be found in cars, at home and wherever you want to measure temperature, pressure or humidity. We deal with sensors that are built up from polymeric materials and can be excellently adapted to the quantities to be measured. In the opposite case, certain polymeric materials can also perform mechanical movements if voltage is applied to them. These materials are the heart of so-called actuators. We develop customer-specific sensors and actuators.
Our know-how
Organic and hybrid sensors and actuators
Polymers and polymer composites also have promoted applications in sensors and actuators. This applies to material systems used in sensors detecting pressure change (piezoelectric), pressure, heat (pyro) as well as humidity and magnetic field sensors.
Rapid prototyping by laser structuring
Three-dimensional structures can be inscribed through photo-crosslinking with the help of various technologies. Generally laser-supported multiphoton polymerization and stereolithography techniques are suitable for this. The material development needed for this is currently focusing on the synthesis of acrylate-based reactive resins which can be used to produce artificial blood vessel systems by means of spatially-resolved stereolithography. Biocompatibility is at the core of our investigation. Combining materials allows mechanical properties to be customized, from soft and elastic to stiff, depending on the degree of crosslinking. Other fields of application for these materials and technologies can be found in microsystems technology.
