Nanovoided polymer for tunable acoustic damping

An acoustic element, comprising:

• a primary electrode;
• a secondary electrode overlapping at least a portion of the primary electrode;
• and
• a nanovoided polymer layer disposed between and abutting the primary electrode and the secondary electrode, wherein:
• the nanovoided polymer layer has a first nanovoid topology when a first voltage is applied between the primary electrode and the secondary electrode,
• the nanovoided polymer layer has a second nanovoid topology different from the first nanovoid topology when a second voltage different from the first voltage is applied between the primary electrode and the secondary electrode;
• and
• the first nanovoid topology attenuates sound waves to a degree that differs from a degree to which the second nanovoid topology attenuates sound waves.

A device comprising an array of acoustic elements, where the acoustic elements comprise at least one of:

• (i) a plurality of nanovoided polymer-containing acoustic insulators, and
• (ii) a plurality of nanovoided polymer-containing acoustic transducers;
• wherein at least one of the acoustic elements comprises an electroactive polymer comprising a nanovoided polymer layer, wherein:
• the nanovoided polymer layer comprises a first nanovoid topology in a first state and a second nanovoid topology different from the first nanovoid topology in a second state;
• applying a voltage across the electroactive polymer causes a reversible conformation change between the first nanovoid topology and the second nanovoid topology;
• and
• the first nanovoid topology attenuates sound waves to a degree that differs from a degree to which the second nanovoid topology attenuates sound waves.