Development of a piezoelectric smart device with fiber meshes elaborated by Forcespinning™

Abstract

A novel approach was used in this thesis project. BaTiO3 nanoparticles named as BTO nanoparticles were synthesized in the laboratory and commercial graphene named as G are used as fillers in Polyvinylidene Fluoride named as PVDF for the formation of polymeric meshes for the development of piezoelectric devices. Piezoelectric fiber meshes from different materials as: PVDF, BTO/PVDF, G/PVDF, BTO/G/PVDF are done varying the concentration of the fillers to evaluate the materials. The fiber meshes were fabricated in the Forcespinning™ technique and were characterized using different techniques. Scanning Electron Microscopy was used to obtain the morphology and chemical composition by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy(EDS), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was done for the identification of the phase composition of the material, Thermogravimetric Analysis allows the obtention of the maximum temperature of degradation to identify the materials with more thermal stability and X-ray Diffraction confirmed us the presence of the planes of the β phase in the fiber meshes and in the BTO the planes that are in concordance to the crystallographic card 96-150-7758. For the characterization of the piezoelectric devices an Impact tester was used with a multimeter to record the voltage generated by all the samples. Where the mean maximum voltage generated for the A2 device is 35.77 Voc, the best device with only BTO as filler, while A3, A4, A6 and A7 samples are samples where G is used with a bad performance. The devices developed can be used for different applications as sensors or nanogenerators, showing a promising performance. Piezoelectric devices are of interest by the generation of voltage from sources that were not used before, therefore producing energy from sustainable alternatives, offering an option for remote self-powered sensors.