High Electromechanical Deformation Based on Structural Beta-Phase Content and Electrostrictive Properties of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride- hexafluoropropylene) Nanofibers

The poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-HFP)) polymer based on electrostrictive polymers is essential in smart materials applications such as actuators, transducers, microelectromechanical systems, storage memory devices, energy harvesting, and biomedical sensors. The key factors for increasing the capability of electrostrictive materials are stronger dielectric properties and an increased electroactive beta-phase and crystallinity of the material. In this work, the dielectric properties and microstructural beta-phase in the P(VDF-HFP) polymer were improved by electrospinning conditions and thermal compression. The P(VDF-HFP) fibers from the single-step electrospinning process had a self-induced orientation and electrical poling which increased both the electroactive beta-crystal phase and the spontaneous dipolar orientation simultaneously. Moreover, the P(VDF-HFP) fibers from the combined electrospinning and thermal compression achieved significantly enhanced dielectric properties and microstructural beta-phase. Thermal compression clearly induced interfacial polarization by the accumulation of interfacial surface charges among two beta-phase regions in the P(VDF-HFP) fibers. The grain boundaries of nanofibers frequently have high interfacial polarization, as they can trap charges migrating in an applied field. This work showed that the combination of electrospinning and thermal compression for electrostrictive P(VDF-HFP) polymers can potentially offer improved electrostriction behavior based on the dielectric permittivity and interfacial surface charge distributions for application in actuator devices, textile sensors, and nanogenerators.