Enhanced Piezoelectric Properties of Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride)/Lead Zirconate Titanate (PVDF/PZT) Fiber Films Fabricated by Electrospinning

Flexible wearable sensing devices are in great demand for self-powered systems. In this study, we fabricated fiber films of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) matrix embedded with modified lead zirconate titanate nanoparticles (PZT NPs) using the electrospinning process. Each fiber film was cut into small pieces of 2 × 2 cm 2 , and pairs of pieces were pressed with a hot-pressing method. Modified PZT NPs with a high piezoelectric coefficient were embedded in PVDF fibers as a piezoelectric-reinforcing phase, which promoted the formation of the polar β phase in PVDF. The embedded PZT NPs affected the distribution of the polarized electric field and formed a local electric field between two PZT NPs, which promoted the polarization of PVDF, thereby enhancing the piezoelectric properties of PVDF/PZT NPs fiber films. The piezoelectric coefficient ( d 33 ) of the PVDF/PZT NPs fiber films embedding 4 wt.% PZT NPs showed the most significant enhancement, from 12 pC/N for neat PVDF to 21 pC/N, which is an approximately 75% improvement. The results of this work demonstrate the great potential application of piezoelectric composite fiber films in flexible wearable sensing devices.