A Preliminary Study: An Evaluation and Redevelopment of Current First Year Laboratory Practices

This study consisted of an evaluation and redevelopment of first year laboratory experiments in Chemistry 1 at the School of Chemistry, University of Tasmania, with respect to the teaching styles implemented. The teaching approaches focused on were expository, guided inquiry, and problem solving and these were applied to two physical chemistry experiments. The aims of this study included investigation into the engagement and input of both students and demonstrators, the understanding achieved by students through completion of the laboratory experiment, and the enjoyment of students in participating and completing the laboratory experiment. The major outcomes of this study found that both problem solving and guided inquiry approaches had greater success than the expository approach in areas such as the engagement of students within the laboratory environment, and the deeper understanding the students gained in the chemical concepts. In addition, expository and problem solving approaches were found to have more acceptable workloads than the guided inquiry variant. The greatest contribution of this study is in providing a foundation for further investigations to be continued into this field of research

New developments in composites, copolymer technologies and processing techniques for flexible fluoropolymer piezoelectric generators for efficient energy harvesting

Flexible piezoelectric generators (PEGs) have recently attracted significant interest, as they are able to harvest mechanical energy and convert it to electricity, decreasing reliance on conventional energy sources. These devices enable innovative applications including smart clothing, wearable electronics, on-skin and implantable sensors, as well as harvesting energy from the movement of vehicles, water and wind. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) and related fluoropolymers are the most common flexible piezoelectric materials, widely utilized for their high electromechanical conversion efficiencies, optimal mechanical flexibility, processability and biocompatibility. This critical review covers the processing of fluoropolymers towards the maximization of piezoelectric conversion parameters. Particular emphasis is placed on the correlation between synthetic routes, inclusion of further co-monomers, addition of additives and nanomaterials, as well as processing techniques and the optimized electricity generation in the resultant PEGs, providing an important analysis to complement existing literature. The importance of novel polymer deposition techniques, which reduce reliance on the conventional, highly energetic post-processing steps, is highlighted. Recent advances in fluoropolymer-based flexible PEGs open an array of exciting applications, which rapidly progress towards commercialization. This review provides a timely analysis of this increasingly important field to the cross-disciplinary community of polymer chemists, materials scientists, nanotechnologists, engineers, and industry practitioners

3D printing of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene): a poling-free technique to manufacture flexible and transparent piezoelectric generators

Flexible piezoelectric generators (PEGs) present a unique opportunity for renewable and sustainable energy harvesting. Here, we present a low-temperature and low-energy deposition method using solvent evaporation-assisted three-dimensional printing to deposit electroactive poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-trifluoroethylene (TrFE) up to 19 structured layers. Visible-wavelength transmittance was above 92%, while ATR-FTIR spectroscopy showed little change in the electroactive phase fraction between layer depositions. Electroactivity from the fabricated PVDF-TrFE PEGs showed that a single structured layer gave the greatest output at 289.3 mV peak-to-peak voltage. This was proposed to be due to shear-induced polarization affording the alignment of the fluoropolymer dipoles without an electric field or high temperature