Piezoelectric characteristics of electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride/3rd generation hyperbranched polyester blend nanowebs

Energy harvesting devices and nano-generators using flexible piezoelectric materials has gained more attention since the last decade. In the present study, the suitability of using electrospun neat polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and PVDF/aliphatic hyperbranched polyester of 3rd generation (HBP-G3) blend (90/10) nanowebs as piezoelectric sensors were studied. In the first step, synthesis of HBP-G3 was carried out by one-shot melt-polycondensation method using pentaerythritol (as core molecule), dimethylol propionic acid (as monomer) and p-toluene sulphonic acid (as catalyst). The synthesized HBP-G3 was characterized using FTIR, NMR, DSC and TGA. Further, electrospinning of neat PVDF and PVDF/HBP blend (90/10) were carried out and the nanoweb samples were analysed using FT-IR, XRD and SEM. Finally, the nanoweb samples were used in the fabrication of piezoelectric sensors and their peak-to-peak output voltage (V_p-p) measured. Compared to neat PVDF (V_p-p = +0.95 V), PVDF/HBP-G1 (90/10) blend exhibited higher V_p-p (+1.62 V), and has the potential for use in energy-harvesting applications.