Solution blow spinning of piezoelectric nanofiber mat for detecting mechanical and acoustic signals

Abstract

Solution blow spinning (SBS) technique can produce nanofibers (NFs) mat in large‐scale production. In this work, the SBS was used to fabricate piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) NF membranes that can be utilized for energy harvesting applications. The effect of operating air pressure from (2–5 bar) on the surface morphology of the NFs has been studied. The structural analysis for crystalline polymorph β‐phase for PVDF powder, casted film, electrospinning and SBS NFs has also been presented with the aid of Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). Piezoelectric characteristics of PVDF NFs mats were tested by applying impact impulse with different weights from different heights between 1 and 10 cm. The sensitivity of the voltage response increased from 1.71 mV/g to 8.98 mV/g, respectively. Besides, the SBS generated PVDF mat is found to be sensitive to pressure forces in a range of few Newtons with the generated voltage according to detected sensitivity of 80 mV/N based on the analysis of the impact of a few Hertz mechanical vibrations. In addition, the produced SBS NFs were applied as an acoustic signal detector within different acoustic frequencies. The results suggest that the β‐phase PVDF nanofibrous membrane produced via the SBS technique has a great potential to be used as a piezoelectric sensor.

Stretchable nanofibers of polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanocomposite to support piezoelectric response via mechanical elasticity

“…Electrospinning has been the most promising as it can form nanofibers from solutions or melts with variable diameters. Additionally, it has been reported that the β-phase content in PVDF nanofibers produced by electrospinning is higher than that of PVDF cast films, thereby improving its piezoelectric properties 27 .…”

Probability of jet roping in solution blowing of multiple jets

“…Nanofibers possessing “smart” properties are becoming tremendously important due to their potential applications, such as in displays and wearable electronic textiles 8 . Solution blowing was also utilized to form PVDF nanofiber mats, which hold great promise as piezoelectric sensors for various energy‐harvesting technologies, as well as for acoustic sensors 9 . The present group formed fiber‐reinforced self‐healing polymer matrix composites (PMC) embedded with electrospun or solution‐blown nanofibers 5,10 .…”

“…8 Solution blowing was also utilized to form PVDF nanofiber mats, which hold great promise as piezoelectric sensors for various energy-harvesting technologies, as well as for acoustic sensors. 9 The present group formed fiber-reinforced self-healing polymer matrix composites (PMC) embedded with electrospun or solution-blown nanofibers. 5,10 Polymer adhesion and sintering in compound nonwovens were studied by Staszel et al 11 aiming for solution-blown nanofibers.…”

Shear and elongational rheometry for determination of spinnability window of polymer solutions in solution blow spinning

“…Scalable methods for fabricating such materials include but are not limited to electrospinning and solution blow spinning (SBS) 2 . The unique properties of nano‐ and submicron fibrous materials, like the high specific surface area, high porosity, good mechanical properties, and structural characteristics associated with their size, make them candidates as building materials for various products, including smart materials, through energy and catalysis applications, materials for environmental protection to biomedical applications 3–13 …”

“…2 The unique properties of nano-and submicron fibrous materials, like the high specific surface area, high porosity, good mechanical properties, and structural characteristics associated with their size, make them candidates as building materials for various products, including smart materials, through energy and catalysis applications, materials for environmental protection to biomedical applications. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The spinning of polymer solutions to the fibrous materials requires an interplay between specific solution properties and processing parameters regardless of the applied technique. 14 Determining the values of the processing parameters and the determination of polymer solution properties remains a significant challenge, especially in new processes like the SBS.…”