Enhanced piezoelectric performance from carbon fluoropolymer nanocomposites

The piezoelectric performance of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is shown to double through the controlled incorporation of carbon nanomaterial. Specifically, PVDF composites containing carbon fullerenes (C60) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are fabricated over a range of compositions and optimized for their Young's modulus, dielectric constant, and d31 piezoelectric coefficient. Thermally stimulated current measurements show a large increase in internal charge and polarization in the composites over pure PVDF. The electromechanical coupling coefficients (k31) at optimal loading levels are found to be 1.84 and 2 times greater than pure PVDF for the PVDF-C60 and PVDF-SWNT composites, respectively. Such property-enhanced nanocomposites could have significant benefit to electromechanical systems employed for structural sensing, energy scavenging, sonar, and biomedical imaging. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Journal of Applied Physics is the property of American Institute of Physics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.