One-step and Continuous Fabrication of Coaxial Piezoelectric Fiber for Sensing Application

Although there has been rapid advancement in piezoelectric sensors, challenges still remain in developing wearable piezoelectric sensors by a one-step, continuous and environmentally friendly method. In this work, a 1D flexible coaxial piezoelectric fiber was directly fabricated by melt extrusion molding, whose core and sheath layer are respectively slender steel wire (i.e., electrode) and PVDF (i.e., piezoelectric layer). Moreover, such 1D flexible coaxial piezoelectric fiber possesses short response time and high sensitivity, which can be used as a self-powered sensor for bending and vibration sensing. More interestingly, such 1D flexible coaxial piezoelectric fiber (1D-PFs) can be further endowed with 3D helical structure. Moreover, a wearable and washable motion monitoring system can be constructed via braiding such 3D helical piezoelectric fiber (3D-PF) into commercial textiles. This work paves a new way for developing 1D and 3D piezoelectric fibers through a one-step, continuous and environmentally friendly method, showing potential applications in the field of sensing and wearable electronics.