• Alejji, Maryam
• Kacem, Eya

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:label /><jats:p>Layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with high aspect ratios enhance the alignment of polymer chains and induce a preferred orientation of the polymeric crystallites when incorporated into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). In addition to offering an effective charge‐transfer mechanism, TMDs give PVDF more rigidity and piezoelectric qualities. This work reports the non‐solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) introduced while developing the PVDF/MoS<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> composites. During the NIPS, the PVDF chains become phase‐separated, which induces high polarization in the PVDF matrix. Phase‐separated PVDF/MoS<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> composites show high porosity and charge distribution attributed to the enhanced piezoelectric output voltage. While the neat PVDF demonstrated very feeble output voltage generation, the hybrid composite containing 2 wt.% of MoS<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>/ZnO facilitated almost 20 times higher performance (peak‐to‐peak voltage of 2.4 V). This work yielded a phase‐separated composite that finds uses in energy harvesting, sensors, and actuators, among other fields.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Highlights</jats:title><jats:p><jats:list list-type="bullet"> <jats:list-item><jats:p>NIPS creates high‐porosity composites with improved charge distribution.</jats:p></jats:list-item> <jats:list-item><jats:p>Layered TMDs improve charge‐transfer mechanism and PVDF's electrical properties.</jats:p></jats:list-item> <jats:list-item><jats:p>2 wt.% MoS<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>/ZnO exhibits nearly 20 times higher voltage generation than neat PVDF.</jats:p></jats:list-item> </jats:list></jats:p></jats:sec>

Topics

• polymer
• phase
• layered
• composite
• porosity
• size-exclusion chromatography