Processing and characterization of oriented electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) mats

Mats of highly oriented poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanofibers were electrospun by means of a conventional electrospinning equipment; the orientation, however, was obtained using a disk collector rotating at a speed of 4000 rpm and a device that reduced the influence of air displace- ment during nanofiber orientation. Thermal transitions of the mats were determined by differential scanning calorimetry, the predominant crystalline phase by Fourier transform infra- red spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray scattering and the nanofiber orientation and morphology by scanning electron microscopy. Relative permittivity, loss index, stable remnant polarization, and coercive field of the mats were also deter- mined and compared with those obtained for a mat electro- spun at 2000 rpm and an oriented commercial film. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 50: 1304-1311, 2012