Electrically responsive composite material, a method of manufacture and a transducer produced using said material

1. A method of producing a composite material capable of transition to a resilient electrically responsive composite material for application in a transducer, in which the resilient electrically responsive material is configured to experience a change in an electrical property in response to exposure to a form of applied energy, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a flowable polymer liquid capable of transition into a resilient material;

introducing electrically conductive acicular particles to said flowable polymer liquid to facilitate the conduction of electricity by quantum tunnelling; and

adding dielectric particles to said flowable polymer liquid; and

mixing said acicular particles and said dielectric particles within said flowable polymer liquid, wherein

said acicular particles have a large dimension and a small dimension, said small dimension and the size of said dielectric particles being between 10 nanometers and 300 nanometers,

a plurality of said dielectric particles are dispersed between adjacent acicular particles during said step of mixing, and

said dielectric particles consisting of dielectric material only and being in a form that is separate from said electrically conductive acicular particles.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said electrically responsive composite material is configurable in a transducer by applying said material in its flowable liquid form and facilitating a transition to a resilient solid form.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said flowable liquid comprises a polymer in solution and said transition is facilitated by the evaporation of said solvent.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said flowable liquid is a silicone based polymer and said transition is facilitated by a cross-linking reaction.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein said flowable liquid is sensitive to ultra violet radiation and said transition is facilitated by the application of ultra violet radiation.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the material is applied in its flowable liquid form onto a circuit board, an electrode, a textile or a film.

7. A composite material capable of transition into a resilient electrically responsive material for application in a transducer in which said resilient electrically responsive material is configured to experience a change in an electrical property in response to exposure to a form of applied energy, comprising:

a flowable polymer liquid capable of transition into a resilient material;

electrically conductive acicular particles that facilitate the conduction of electricity through a solid polymer by quantum tunnelling; and

a plurality of dielectric particles dispersed between many adjacent acicular particles, wherein

said electrically conductive acicular particles have a large dimension and a small dimension, said small dimension and the size of said dielectric particles being between 10 nanometers and 300 nanometers; and

said dielectric particles consisting of dielectric material only and being dispersed separately from said electrically conductive acicular particles.

8. The electrically responsive composite material of claim 7 , wherein the dielectric material is titanium dioxide.

9. The electrically responsive composite material of claim 7 , wherein said dielectric particles have an organic coating to facilitate dispersion.

10. A method of fabricating a transducer comprising a resilient electrically responsive material configured to experience a change in an electrical property in response to exposure to a form of applied energy, said method comprising the steps of:

applying a flowable polymer liquid that contains electrically conductive acicular particles and dielectric particles, said dielectric particles consisting of dielectric material only and being in a form that is separate from said electrically conductive acicular particles;

facilitating a transition of said flowable polymer liquid to a resilient solid polymer to produce said resilient electrically responsive material, in which said resilient solid polymer has said electrically conductive acicular particles and said dielectric particles dispersed therein; wherein

said dielectric particles are of a size relative to said electrically conductive acicular particles such that a plurality of said dielectric particles are dispersed between adjacent electrically conductive acicular particles; and

said flowable polymer liquid is applied to a substrate comprising an electrode before said transition to a resilient solid.

11. The method of fabricating a transducer of claim 10 , wherein said flowable polymer liquid is applied to a circuit board.

12. The method of fabricating a transducer of claim 10 , wherein-said flowable polymer is applied to an electrode, a textile or a film.

13. A transducer having a substrate for supporting a flowable polymer liquid, a resilient solid material formed by a transition of said flowable polymer liquid such that said resilient solid material connects to an electronic circuit, wherein:

said resilient solid material comprises a polymer material having semi-conductive acicular particles and dielectric particles dispersed therein; and

said dielectric particles are of a size relative to said semi-conductive acicular particles such that a plurality of said dielectric particles are dispersed between adjacent acicular particles, wherein:

said semi-conductive acicular particles are dispersed separately from said dielectric particles;

said dielectric particles consisting of dielectric material only; and

the resilient solid material is configured to experience a change in an electrical property in response to exposure to a form of applied energy.

14. The transducer of claim 13 , wherein said electrical property is electrical resistance or impedance and said electrical resistance or impedance is monitored by the application of an electrical potential.

15. The transducer of claim 13 , wherein said form of applied energy is mechanical energy from a mechanical interaction.

16. The transducer of claim 13 , wherein said form of applied energy is electromagnetic radiation.

17. The transducer of claim 13 , wherein said form of applied energy is an interaction with sub-atomic particles or ionizing radiation.

18. The transducer of claim 13 , wherein said form of applied energy is thermal energy.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein said electrically conductive acicular particles are semi-conductive acicular particles.

20. The electrically responsive composite material of claim 7 , wherein said electrically conductive acicular particles are semi-conductive acicular particles.

21. The method of claim 10 , wherein said electrically conductive acicular particles are semi-conductive acicular particles.