Improved piezoelectric properties of electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) fibers blended with cellulose nanocrystals

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) fibrous composites were prepared by electrospinning. Compared with neat PVDF fibers, PVDF/CNCs composites contain higher content of β phase with help of rod-liked CNCs. The highest content of β phase among these fibrous membranes is as high as 89.96%. Furthermore, the piezo-voltage generated by the power generator which is made of PVDF/CNCs fibrous composite indicates that addition of CNCs to PVDF fiber matrix contributes to improving piezoelectric performance of PVDF fiber. •PVDF and CNCs fibrous composites were prepared by electrospinning.•High content of β phase as well as crystallinity was obtained by adding of CNCs to PVDF fiber matrix.•PVDF-based power generator with addition of 2wt% CNCs exhibited high output voltage reaching to 60V.