Carbon: Science and Technology (Dec 2018)
Synthesis of β, γ- PVDF through electrospinning for piezoelectric force sensing application.
Abstract
In the present study, PVDF nanofibers containing β and γ-phases have been synthesized by electrospinning process. An experimental study was conducted for evaluating the high temperature effects on sample precursor preparation as well as PVDF phase transition (α=>β phase and α=> γ phase). High temperature melting process was employed to prepare PVDF solution as precursor for electrospinning and a typical process condition was mainatained to draw PVDF nanofiber. Synthesized fibers were characterized by fourier-transfonn infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). To measure the sensing performance of the PVDF nanofibers, a piezoelectric force sensor device was constructed using these fibers. The voltage vs current and voltage vs time signals were recorded against calibrated loads using digital oscilloscope. More specifically, it was established that precursors melted at 150°C temperature is essential for producing β+γ mixed crystal based PVDF nanofibers which could generate signals of sufficiently high amplitude at low applied forces consistent with the physical acoustic theory.
