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. 2021 Apr 28;22(9):4639.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22094639.

Tunable Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Coaxial Electrospun Composite Nanofibers of P(VDF-TrFE) and P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE)

Tu-Ngoc Lam  1   2 , Chia-Yin Ma  1 , Po-Han Hsiao  1 , Wen-Ching Ko  3 , Yi-Jen Huang  4 , Soo-Yeol Lee  5 , Jayant Jain  6 , E-Wen Huang  1
Affiliations

Tunable Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Coaxial Electrospun Composite Nanofibers of P(VDF-TrFE) and P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE)

Tu-Ngoc Lam et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The coaxial core/shell composite electrospun nanofibers consisting of relaxor ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) and ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) polymers are successfully tailored towards superior structural, mechanical, and electrical properties over the individual polymers. The core/shell-TrFE/CTFE membrane discloses a more prominent mechanical anisotropy between the revolving direction (RD) and cross direction (CD) associated with a higher tensile modulus of 26.9 MPa and good strength-ductility balance, beneficial from a better degree of nanofiber alignment, the increased density, and C-F bonding. The interfacial coupling between the terpolymer P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) and copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) is responsible for comparable full-frequency dielectric responses between the core/shell-TrFE/CTFE and pristine terpolymer. Moreover, an impressive piezoelectric coefficient up to 50.5 pm/V is achieved in the core/shell-TrFE/CTFE composite structure. Our findings corroborate the promising approach of coaxial electrospinning in efficiently tuning mechanical and electrical performances of the electrospun core/shell composite nanofiber membranes-based electroactive polymers (EAPs) actuators as artificial muscle implants.

Keywords: coaxial electrospun core/shell nanofibers; dielectric constant; piezoelectricity; tensile modulus; wide-angle X-ray diffraction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SEM images of the (a) pristine P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), (b) pristine P(VDF-TrFE), (c) core/shell-TrFE/CTFE, and (d) core/shell-CTFE/TrFE nanofibers. The distribution of electrospun nanofibers in the (e) pristine P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), (f) pristine P(VDF-TrFE), (g) core/shell-TrFE/CTFE, and (h) core/shell-CTFE/TrFE films.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Schematic illustration of tensile tests in the RD and CD. Engineering S-S curves of the four kinds of electrospun sheets in the (b) RD and (c) CD. (d) Young’s modulus, (e) tensile strength, and (f) elongation to failure of the single and coaxial electrospun nanofibers in both RD and CD.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The upper and lower bounds calculated by the rule of mixtures accompanied with the experimentally measured specific Young’s moduli of the coaxial electrospun composite nanofibers in the (a) RD and (b) CD.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) FTIR spectra and (b) fraction of each chain conformation in the single and coaxial electrospun nanofibers.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The 2D WAXD patterns in the (a) P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), (b) P(VDF-TrFE), (c) core/shell-TrFE/CTFE, and (d) core/shell-CTFE/TrFE. Azimuthal profiles as a function of the 2θ angle in the (e) P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), (f) P(VDF-TrFE), (g) core/shell-TrFE/CTFE, and (h) core/shell-CTFE/TrFE.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The 1D WAXD intensity profiles and corresponding peak fitting in the (a) pristine P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), (b) pristine P(VDF-TrFE), (c) core/shell-TrFE/CTFE, and (d) core/shell-CTFE/TrFE.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) Dielectric constant and (b) dielectric loss as a function of frequency in the single and coaxial electrospun nanofibers.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Piezoelectric signal versus the applied AC voltage in the single and coaxial electrospun nanofibers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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