TECHNICAL: This project will develop a novel processing technique for multiferroic composites using nanoimprinting lithography (NIL), which would allow much more precise control over the size, morphology, and distribution of second-phase fillers in polymer matrix than any other conventional nanocomposite processing techniques, and thus may lead to multiferroic composites with optimally designed and dramatically enhanced magnetoelectric properties. For their technological potential to be fully realized, the multiferroic materials, especially multiferroic composites, must demonstrate high magnetoelectric coupling factor. To accomplish this, it is essential to control the microstructure of multiferroic composites precisely, which is very difficult for traditional composite processing techniques. It is the objective of this project to explore new processing technique based on NIL to engineer the nanostructures of multiferroic composites for optimized magnetoelectric properties. The goal of this exploratory project is to engineer nanostructures of TbDyFe-PVDF multiferroic composites using NIL based technique for dramatically enhanced magnetoelectric properties. In particular, PI seeks to accomplish the following objectives: (1) Exploring a novel nanocomposite processing technique based on NIL to precisely control the size, morphology, and distributions of TbDyFe fillers in PVDF matrix; (2) Fabricating TbDyFe-PVDF multiferroic composites with optimally designed fillers size, morphology, and distribution for dramatically enhanced magnetoelectric coefficient, guided by our theoretical modeling and simulations; and (3) Characterizing the structures and functional properties of the TbDyFe-PVDF multiferroic composites, and validating PI's theoretical modeling and simulations. The research is exploratory in nature for the following reasons: (1) it is preliminary work on novel ideas, since processing of nanocomposites using NIL based technique is untested to the best knowledge of the PI; and (2) it ventures into emerging and potentially transformative research ideas, namely NIL, and extends it to processing of nanocomposites. Due to this exploratory nature, the research involves high risk, especially in the integration of NIL of polymer films with traditional thin film deposition techniques for metals, such as sputtering. On the other hand, it also offers huge potential. If successful, the proposed technique will allow us to precisely control the size, morphology, and distributions of second-phase fillers in the polymer matrix, and thus could lead to multiferroic composites with optimally designed nanostructures and dramatically enhanced magnetoelectric coefficient. NON-TECHNICAL: Multiferroic magnetoelectric materials display both magnetic and electric ordering, which in principle allows the interconversion of energies stored in magnetic and electric fields. This additional degree of freedom may result in new methods to probe materials, and may lead to design of novel devices including transducers, actuators, sensors, and storage devices. Efforts based on this work are likely to catalyze rapid and innovative advances not only in processing multiferroic composites, but also in processing other nanocomposites using NIL based techniques. The broader impacts in this project also include training for graduate student, and the potential applications of multiferroic composites. It may also lead innovate processing techniques for other polymer based nanocomposites.
