ZnO@Carbon Dot Nanoparticles Stimulating the Antibacterial Activity of Polyvinylidene Fluoride-Hexafluoropropylene with a Higher Electroactive Phase for Multifunctional Devices

Abstract

To further advance the application of flexible piezoelectric materials in wearable/implantable devices and robot electronic skin, it is necessary to endow them with a new function of antibacterial properties and with higher piezoelectric performance. Introducing a specially designated nanomaterial based on the nanocomposite effect is a feasible strategy to improve material properties and achieve multifunctionalization of composites. In this paper, carbon dots (CDs) were sensitized onto the surface of ZnO to form ZnO@CDs nanoparticles, which were then incorporated into polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) to obtain a multifunctional composite. On the one hand, the antibacterial property of ZnO was improved because CDs had good optical absorption of visible light and their surface functional groups were favorable for electrostatic adsorption with bacteria. Therefore, ZnO@CDs endowed the composite with an outstanding antibacterial rate of 69.1% for Staphylococcus aureus. On the other hand, CDs played a bridging role between ZnO and PVDF-HFP, reducing the negative effect of ZnO aggregation and interface incompatibility with PVDF-HFP. As a result, ZnO@CDs induced β-phase formation of 80.4% in PVDF-HFP with a d₃₃ value of 33.8 pC N^-1. The multifunctional device exhibited excellent piezoelectric and antibacterial performance in the application of energy harvesters and self-powered pressure sensors.

Keywords: PVDF-HFP; ZnO nanoparticles; antibacterial activity; carbon dots; piezoelectric device.