title: High-performance coils and yarns of polymeric piezoelectric nanofibers.
abstract: We report on highly stretchable piezoelectric structures of electrospun PVDF-TrFE nanofibers. We fabricated nanofibrous PVDF-TrFE yarns via twisting their electrospun ribbons. Our results show that the twisting process not only increases the failure strain but also increases overall strength and toughness. The nanofibrous yarns achieved a remarkable energy to failure of up to 98 J/g. Through overtwisting process, we fabricated polymeric coils out of twisted yarns that stretched up to ∼740% strain. This enhancement in mechanical properties is likely induced by increased interactions between nanofibers, contributed by friction and van der Waals interactions, as well as favorable surface charge (Columbic) interactions as a result of piezoelectric effect, for which we present a theoretical model. The fabricated yarns and coils show great promise for applications in high-performance lightweight structural materials and superstretchable piezoelectric devices and flexible energy harvesting applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, ‡Department of Materials Science and Engineering, §Department of Bioengineering, ∥UT Dallas NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas , 800 W. Campbell Rd., Richardson, Texas 75080, United States.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baniasadi
authors.forename: Jiacheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Manuel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Quevedo-Lopez
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naraghi
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minary-Jolandan
keywords: electrospun PVDF nanofibers; mechanical properties; multifunctional materials; piezoelectricity; stretchable materials