Design and synthesis of PVDF-cloisite-30B nanocomposite fibers for energy harvesting applications

ABSTRACT Polymer nanofibers of PVDF/Cloisite-30B clay composites were synthesized by far field electrospinning technique. Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array was used to study the effect of process parameters in electrospinning. Different polymer composite films were prepared with various composition and process parameters. The best result obtained with highest β-phase crystallinity with 89.7% with average fiber diameter of 79 nm. Further piezoelectric property of nanofiber composite was measured by oscilloscope actuated through a mechanical cam driven by a D C motor at different speed 500, 1000 and 1500 rpm respectively. Grey relation analysis was performed to identify the most significant process parameters for preparation of uniform nanofibers. Grey relation grading for response parameters was ranked 1 for highest β-phase crystallinity among the studied composites. The PVDF composite sample with 3% cloisite-30B showed high instantaneous voltage of 4.4V with applied voltage of 22 kV and collector plate distance of 12 cm.