Piezoelectric sensor based on electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride)/sulfonated poly(1,4‐phenylene sulfide) blend nonwoven fiber mat

Electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/sulfonated poly(1,4‐phenylene sulfide) (sPPS) blend nanofiber webs are prepared to investigate the changes in piezoelectric behavior of PVDF as a function of sPPS content using spectral and electrical measurements. Initial fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectral analysis carried out using PVDF/sPPS as‐cast films provides useful information about the preferential formation of the β‐crystalline phase in PVDF. Even with the addition of 10 wt% of sPPS, β‐crystalline absorbance increases significantly in as‐cast PVDF film at the expense of a corresponding decrease in α‐crystalline absorbance. Cyclic–voltammetric analysis confirms the redox behavior of sPPS and its influence on improving the performance of PVDF/sPPS blend‐based piezoelectric sensor through hydrogen bonding and ion‐dipole interactions. The piezoelectric output signal recorded using PVDF/sPPS blend (95:5) nanofiber web shows ~4.4 times increase in output signal amplitude compared to that of neat PVDF based sensor, which is an evidence that the PVDF/sPPS nanofiber web material can be used as a commercially viable flexible pressure sensor. Electrospun PVDF/sPPS blend nonwoven fiber‐based flexible piezoelectric sensors are studied for their piezoelectric output voltage as a function of varying sPPS content (0–20 wt%). Even an lesser addition of sPPS (5 wt%) in PVDF results in 4.4 times higher output signal amplitude, which is an evidence that the PVDF/sPPS nanofiber mat can be used as a commercially viable pressure sensor.