Rapid prototyping of novel piezoelectric composites

Piezoelectric ceramic-polymer composites have been conceptualized, prototyped, fabricated by rapid prototyping in order to surpass those fabricated with traditional processing methods in novelty as well as performance. Rapid prototyping offers unmatched design and fabrication flexibility in achieving structural complexity and hierarchy in developing piezoelectric composites. A detailed account of all salient aspects of Fused Deposition of Ceramics (FDC) and Fused Deposition of Multi-Materials (FDMM), two major technologies pioneered at Rutgers University, are discussed. Structure-processing-property relations are elaborated on using connectivity as the unifying central concept. Examples of novel piezoelectric ceramic-polymer composites fabricated using FDC and FDMM are given, and pertinent electromechanical properties are discussed. Pending challenges in this line of research are also elaborated on.