Abstract
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 (k 31) 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.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 124104 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Physics |
Volume | 112 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 15 2012 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Physics and Astronomy(all)