Magnetic proximity sensor based on magnetoelectric composites and printed coils

• Published in: Materials Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1729
• Main Authors: Pereira, Nélson, Lima, Ana Catarina, Correia, Vitor, Peřinka, Nikola, Lanceros-Méndez, S., Martins, Pedro Libânio Abreu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 07.04.2020; MDPI AG; MDPI
• Subjects: Aerospace safety; Ciências Físicas; Ciências Naturais; Coils; Composite materials; Industrial applications; Internet of Things; Low temperature; Magnetic fields; magnetic sensor; magnetoelectric; multiferroic; polymer-based composites; Polymers; Polyvinylidene fluorides; Positioning devices (machinery); Power consumption; Proximity; Science & Technology; Screen printing; Sensors; Silver; United States > US; China; magnetoelectric; multiferroic; coils; magnetic sensor; polymer-based composites
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma13071729

Magnetic sensors are mandatory in a broad range of applications nowadays, being the increasing interest on such sensors mainly driven by the growing demand of materials required by Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things concept. Optimized power consumption, reliability, flexibility, versatility, lightweight and low-temperature fabrication are some of the technological requirements in which the scientific community is focusing efforts. Aiming to positively respond to those challenges, this work reports magnetic proximity sensors based on magnetoelectric (ME) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/Metglas composites and an excitation-printed coil. The proposed magnetic proximity sensor shows a maximum resonant ME coefficient (α) of 50.2 Vcm −1 Oe −1 , an AC linear response (R 2 = 0.997) and a maximum voltage output of 362 mV, which suggests suitability for proximity-sensing applications in the areas of aerospace, automotive, positioning, machine safety, recreation and advertising panels, among others. This research was funded by CT- Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2019 and under projects PTDC/EEI-SII/5582/2014, PTDC/BTM-MAT/28237/2017 and PTDC/EMD-EMD/28159/2017. A.C.L. and N.P. acknowledge also support from FCT (SFRH/BD/132624/2017 and SFRH/BD/131729/2017 grants respectively). P. Martins also thanks FCT for the contract under the Stimulus of Scientific Employment, Individual Support—2017 Call (CEECIND/03975/2017). Finally, the authors acknowledge funding by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project MAT2016-76039-C4-3-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) and from the Basque Government Industry and Education Department under the ELKARTEK, HAZITEK and PIBA (PIBA-2018-06) programs, respectively