Considerable interest has been devoted to converting mechanical energy into electricity using polymer nanofibres. In particular, piezoelectric nanofibres produced by electrospinning have shown remarkable mechanical energy-to-electricity conversion ability. However, there is little data for the acoustic-to-electric conversion of electrospun nanofibres. Here we show that electrospun piezoelectric nanofibre webs have a strong acoustic-to-electric conversion ability. Using poly(vinylidene fluoride) as a model polymer and a sensor device that transfers sound directly to the nanofibre layer, we show that the sensor devices can detect low-frequency sound with a sensitivity as high as 266 mV Pa À 1 . They can precisely distinguish sound waves in low to middle frequency region. These features make them especially suitable for noise detection. Our nanofibre device has more than five times higher sensitivity than a commercial piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) film device. Electrospun piezoelectric nanofibres may be useful for developing high-performance acoustic sensors.
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers show piezoelectric properties and the capability to harvest sound energy for power generation purposes. However, their application as an acoustic sensor to detect sound was not studied....
Electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers have shown novel property to convert kinetic energy into electricity. However, most of the PVDF nanofiber energy devices are based on pure PVDF. In this paper, the effect of small molecule doping on PVDF nanofiber diameter, β phase content, and mechanical‐to‐electrical energy conversion property is reported. Two chemicals, tri‐p‐tolylamine (TTA) and 2‐(4‐tert‐butylphenyl)‐5‐(4‐biphenylyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole (Butyl‐PBD) which have electron‐ and hole‐transfer features, respectively, are chosen as dopants. When the nanofibers contain 0.5% TTA or 1% Butyl‐PBD, they show high β phase content and electric outputs. By combining a layer of nanofiber web which contained TTA with a layer of nanofiber web containing Butyl‐PBD, the voltage output is changed to 3.1 V, increasing by ≈100% when compared with the single layer nanofiber device of the same thickness. In addition, asymmetric electric outputs are observed in the two layer energy device. These novel features are probably attributed to the high internal polarity across the nanofiber web.
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