Fabrication and characterizations of Eu3+ doped PAN/BaTiO3 electrospun piezoelectric composite fibers

[Display omitted] •Electroactive and photoluminescence composite nanofiber were fabricated.•Eu3+ and BaTiO3nanoparticles improve piezoelectric effect of PAN composite fibers.•The composite nanofiber films can be applied as multifunctional flexible sensors. In this paper, Eu3+ doped PAN/BaTiO3 piezoelectric composite fibers were prepared by electrostatic spinning. The addition of filler contributes to the transformation of PAN from 31-helical conformation to planar zigzag conformation, thus improving the piezoelectric properties of PAN. The Φ value can be increased by 10% to ∼97.3%. The highest sensitivity (∼0.15 kPa−1), dielectric constant (3.5) and fluorescence characteristics (Eu3+). The prepared pressure sensor can produce up to ∼6 V voltage and ∼45 nA current at 12.5 kPa and 3 Hz. The results show that Eu3+ doped PAN/BaTiO3 piezoelectric composite fiber membranes can be effectively applied in the fields of flexible pressure sensors, wearable self-powered devices and optoelectronic devices.