Graphene-Coated PVDF/PAni Fiber Mats and Their Applications in Sensing and Nanogeneration

Forcespinning is a powerful technique to produce fiber systems with suitable properties for a vast array of applications. This study investigates the sensing and energy by the forcespinning method with and without graphene coating. The developed fiber mats were coated with graphene nanoflakes by drop-casting. The graphene-coated nanocomposites show an average output voltage of 75 mV (peak-to-peak), which is 300% higher compared to bare fiber mats, and an output current of 24 coated PVDF/PAni showed a volume conductivity of 1.2 x 10(-7) S/cm and was investigated as a promising system for temperature (5 times better sensitivity than normal fiber mat), vibration (2 times better voltage generation), and airflow sensing. The graphene-coated composite has been further investigated as a water tide energy harvesting piezoelectric nanogenerator, with the system generating similar to 40 mV for a synthetic ocean wave with a flow rate of 30 mL/min. In the future, graphene-coated nanofiber mats can be a solution for low-powered sensors and to harvest blue energy and vibration energy.

Automated summary

Forcespinning is a powerful technique for producing fiber systems with suitable properties. This study demonstrates that graphene-coated forcespinning nanofiber mats exhibit improved sensing and energy performance. The graphene-coated nanocomposites show enhanced sensitivity in temperature, vibration, and airflow sensing, and also function as water tide energy harvesting piezoelectric nanogenerators.