Flexible and oriented composite electrospun fiber membrane based on poly(L-lactic acid) for self-powered sensing

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), a piezoelectric material with excellent biocompatibility, has garnered significant attention due to its wide applications in wearable biosensors. Enhancing its piezoelectric performance has thus become a key research focus. In this study, we fabricated a composite electrospun membrane composed of Poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and tetragonal barium titanate (T-BTO). By the strong stretching of the collector and incorporating the piezoelectric phase of T-BTO, the PLLA/submicron- sized T-BTO composite membranes generated an open-circuit voltage of 1.03 V and a short-circuit current of 33.5 nA. The submicron-sized T-BTO demonstrated significantly better dispersion and performance enhancement compared to the micron-sized T-BTO. Furthermore, flexible devices based on these membranes demonstrated sensitivity to joint movement, producing corresponding electrical signals. These findings suggest that PLLA/T-BTO electrospun fiber membranes hold great potential as flexible, sensitive piezoelectric materials for bio-sensing applications.