Microfluidic fabrication of β-phase enriched poly(vinylidene fluoride) microfibers toward flexible piezoelectric sensor
writer：Xiangyi Meng, Qingqing Li, Zhijun Hu*, Mingyu Guo*
keywords：flexible sensor, mass transfer, microfluidic spinning, phase inversion, piezoelectric, poly (vinylidene fluoride)
source：期刊
specific source：J. Polym. Sci., 2022, DOI: 10.1002/pol.20210952
Issue time：2022年
β-phase enriched piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films/fibers
are often prepared by high-energy costing methods, including mechanical
stretching, high-electric field or electrospinning. In this study, PVDF piezoelectric
microfibers, for the first time, were prepared by microfluidic spinning technology.
The β-phase enriched PVDF microfibers with various diameters could
be easily obtained inside the microfluidic channel due to the mass transfer
induced phase inversion of the inner PVDF solution. The influence of diameter
of the fibers, PVDF concentration of the inner phase and water content of the
outer phase on the β-phase content and crystallinity degree of the obtained
fibers was studied in detail. The obtained β-phase enriched fiber was weaved
into meshes. Flexible piezoelectric fabrics were then developed based on these
meshes, and further used as in-situ and real time human motion monitoring.
This simple and effective strategy provides a promising microfluidic spinning
technique toward the development of functional microfibers and wearable piezoelectric
sensors, which may also give some implies for the industrial wetspinning
of piezoelectric PVDF fibers in the future.