High-sensitivity acoustic sensors from nanofibre webs

• Published in: Nature communications 2016-03, Vol.7 (1), p.11108-11108, Article 11108
• Main Authors: Lang, Chenhong, Fang, Jian, Shao, Hao, Ding, Xin, Lin, Tong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/357; 639/925/927/511; Acoustics; Energy consumption; Fourier transforms; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Polyethylene terephthalate; Polymers; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensors; Sound waves
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11108

Considerable interest has been devoted to converting mechanical energy into electricity using polymer nanofibres. In particular, piezoelectric nanofibres produced by electrospinning have shown remarkable mechanical energy-to-electricity conversion ability. However, there is little data for the acoustic-to-electric conversion of electrospun nanofibres. Here we show that electrospun piezoelectric nanofibre webs have a strong acoustic-to-electric conversion ability. Using poly(vinylidene fluoride) as a model polymer and a sensor device that transfers sound directly to the nanofibre layer, we show that the sensor devices can detect low-frequency sound with a sensitivity as high as 266 mV Pa −1 . They can precisely distinguish sound waves in low to middle frequency region. These features make them especially suitable for noise detection. Our nanofibre device has more than five times higher sensitivity than a commercial piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) film device. Electrospun piezoelectric nanofibres may be useful for developing high-performance acoustic sensors. Polymer nanofibres can be used to detect mechanical motion. Here, the authors use electrospun piezoelectric nanofibre webs to detect acoustic waves at frequencies below 500 Hz with a good sensitivity at low pressure levels, and study the impact of the fibres morphology and crystalline phase.