Polyvinylidene fluoride/ barium titanate nanocomposite aligned hollow electrospun fibers as an actuator

Abstract

Piezoelectric polymers such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) are widely utilized in electronic devices. However, their applications as high-performance flexible actuators are still not described well. The performance of the PVDF-based actuators is strongly related to the quality of the β-phase crystals. The elaboration of a one-dimensional element through electrospinning of aligned hollow nanofibers facilitates the formation of the β-phase crystals in PVDF and improves its actuation performance. Also, barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles can enhance the piezoelectric performance of the polymer actuators. The synergistic effect of the mechanical drawing and a high-intensity electric field during the electrospinning process resulted in the fabrication of ultra-thin-shell PVDF/BaTiO3 aligned hollow nanofibers with the predominant β-phase content of 99%, as was revealed by FTIR and XRD data. The aligned hollow nanofibers were then used as piezoelectric actuators with a high actuation deflection of 28 µm in response to the reasonable voltage of 480 V.