title: High-sensitivity acoustic sensors from nanofibre webs.
abstract: 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(-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.
authors.affiliation: College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.|Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Chenhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin