Graphene reinforced Poly(vinylidene fluoride) composite nanofibers were prepared and their morphology, crystallinity, polymorphism and electrical outputs were investigated for the first time.. Nanofibers were prepared using electrospinning technique with different graphene contents. DSC, FTIR and WAXD analyses were used to evaluate the polymorphism of PVDF crystals upon graphene addition. It was observed that addition of a small amount of graphene (0.1%wt) significantly increased the F(β) and open-circuit voltage of nanofibers. However, further increase in graphene content decreased the electrical output of randomly oriented nanofibers. The developed PVDF/graphene nanogenerator has the ability to fully synchronize the finger movement and its generated electricity can light up a commercial LED for 30 seconds. This new type of PVDF generator has the potential to be used as a self-charging power source and could be used in powering the personal electronics.
Electronic textiles and functional fabrics are among the key constituents envisioned for wearable electronics applications. For e‐textiles, the challenge is to process materials of desired electronic properties such as piezoelectricity into fibers to be integrated as wefts or wraps in the fabrics. Nylons, first introduced in the 1940s for stockings, are among the most widely used synthetic fibers in textiles. However, realization of nylon‐based e‐textiles has remained elusive due to the difficulty of achieving the piezoelectric phase in the nylon fibers. Here, piezoelectric nylon‐11 fibers are demonstrated and it is shown that the resulting fibers are viable for applications in energy harvesting from low frequency mechanical vibrations and in motion sensors. A simulation study is presented that elucidates on the sensitivity of the nylon‐11 fibers toward external mechanical stimuli. Moreover, a strategy is proposed and validated to significantly boost the electrical performance of the fibers. Since a large fraction of the textile industry is based on nylon fibers, the demonstration of piezoelectric nylon fibers will be a major step toward realization of electronic textiles for applications in apparels, health monitoring, sportswear, and portable energy generation.
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