In-situ electrostatic field regulating the recrystallization behavior of P(VDF-TrFE) films with high β-phase content and enhanced piezoelectric properties towards flexible wireless biosensing device applications

Abstract

Fabrication of flexible piezoelectric polymers is essential for the development of wearable biosensors. Nevertheless, the piezoelectric coefficient of polymers is usually an order of magnitude lower than the inorganic piezoelectric materials, which limits the miniature of the devices. Herein, a simple and cost-effective technique is proposed by applying an electrostatic field to in-situ regulate the recrystallization behavior of the poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) film during the thermal annealing and recrystallization stage. Significantly enhanced properties are obtained, including a large piezoelectric coefficient (d33~30.7 pC/N) and a high voltage sensitivity of 167.12 mV/kPa. The outstanding performance is mainly attributed to the applied electrostatic field maintained during the film growth stage, which promotes the generation of nucleation sites for the polar β lamellae crystals. A wireless sensor system is further established with the obtained P(VDF-TrFE) film, demonstrating great potential applications in movement monitoring. The proposed facile approach could potentially be applied to the large-scale production of polymer films with excellent piezoelectric properties for flexible wireless biosensing device applications.