A Flexible Multifunctional PAN Piezoelectric Fiber with Hydrophobicity, Energy Storage, and Fluorescence

Lightweight, flexible, and hydrophobic multifunctional piezoelectric sensors have increasingly important research value in contemporary society. They can generate electrical signals under the action of pressure and can be applied in various complex scenarios. In this study, we prepared a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite fiber doped with imidazolium type ionic liquids (ILs) and europium nitrate hexahydrate (Eu (NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O) by a facile method. The results show that the PAN composite fibers had excellent mechanical properties (the elongation at break was 114% and the elastic modulus was 2.98 MPa), hydrophobic self-cleaning ability (water contact angle reached 127.99 degrees), and can also emit light under UV light irradiation red fluorescence. In addition, thanks to the induction of the piezoelectric phase of PAN by the dual fillers, the composite fibers exhibited efficient energy storage capacity and excellent sensitivity. The energy density of PAN@Eu-6ILs reached a maximum of 44.02 mJ/cm(3) and had an energy storage efficiency of 80%. More importantly, under low pressure detection, the sensitivity of the composite fiber was 0.69 kPa(-1). The research results show that this PAN composite fiber has the potential to act as wearable piezoelectric devices, energy storage devices, and other electronic devices.

Automated summary

Polyacrylonitrile composite fibers doped with imidazolium type ionic liquids and europium nitrate hexahydrate exhibit excellent mechanical properties, hydrophobic self-cleaning ability, light emission, and piezoelectric sensitivity, making them suitable for low-pressure detection.