Polyvinylidene fluoride/ barium titanate nanocomposite aligned hollow electrospun fibers as an actuator

• Single-step coaxial electrospinning is elected to attain desired crystal structure • Thin-walled aligned hollow PVDF nanofibers represent desirable crystal structure • Desired β-type crystalline structure enhances the performance of actuator element • Crystal structure Engineering ensures greater piezoelectric properties of actuator Piezoelectric polymers such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) are widely utilized in electronic devices. However, their applications as high-performance flexible actuators are still not described well. The performance of the PVDF-based actuators is strongly related to the quality of the β-phase crystals. The elaboration of a one-dimensional element through electrospinning of aligned hollow nanofibers facilitates the formation of the β-phase crystals in PVDF and improves its actuation performance. Also, barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) nanoparticles can enhance the piezoelectric performance of the polymer actuators. The synergistic effect of the mechanical drawing and a high-intensity electric field during the electrospinning process resulted in the fabrication of ultra-thin-shell PVDF/BaTiO 3 aligned hollow nanofibers with the predominant β-phase content of 99%, as was revealed by FTIR and XRD data. The aligned hollow nanofibers were then used as piezoelectric actuators with a high actuation deflection of 28 µm in response to the reasonable voltage of 480 V.