Enhanced vibration detection with rgo-doped pan/pvdf molecularly blended nanofibers: Preparation and characterization of the nanofibrous flexible piezoelectric vibration sensing elements

Abstract

In this study, the reduction process of both GO and GO-doped nanofibers was carried out via the chemical reduction method by using L-ascorbic acid (LAA) and sodium borohydride (SB). GO and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) doped polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and PAN/PVDF nanofiber surfaces were produced by the electrospinning method. Nanofiber-reinforced flexible piezoelectric vibration sensing elements with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix were produced from all sample combinations. Piezoelectric vibration sensing element analysis of each sample group was performed. It has been shown that reducing graphene oxide while inside nanofiber surfaces effectively increases the piezoelectric performance of the sensing element. It was observed that when PAN and PVDF were molecularly blended and used together in nanofibers, the output voltage increased significantly by supporting and strengthening each other's piezoelectric properties with the synergistic piezoelectric effect catalyzed by GO addition and a subsequent reduction process. This effect was highest with 1.98 V for the PAN/PVDF blend, where incorporated GO was reduced by 50 mM SB (PAN/PVDF/ GO)50SB. According to the Raman results, the lowest intensity ratio of the D and G band (ID/IG) among the sample group containing PAN/PVDF/GO was 0.992 for the (PAN/PVDF/GO)50SB sample. Correspondingly, the maximum reduction was also in this sample. XPS results showed that C/O ratios were 16.35 and 43.21, respectively, for PAN/PVDF/GO nanofibers that were reduced separately with LAA and SB. Thus, SB provided a better reduction in the removal of oxygen functional groups. The developed flexible piezoelectric vibration sensing element can be used for the detection of dynamic loads on frames of an aircraft or in developing wearable technologies for pilots.