Aligned PVDF-TrFE Nanofibers With High-Density PVDF Nanofibers and PVDF Core–Shell Structures for Endovascular Pressure Sensing

摘要

Nanostructures of polyvinyledenedifluoride-tetrafluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE), a semicrystalline polymer with high piezoelectricity, results in significant enhancement of crystallinity and better device performance as sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters. Using electrospinning of PVDF to manufacture nanofibers, we demonstrate a new method to pattern high-density, highly aligned nanofibers. To further boost the charge transfer from such a bundle of nanofibers, we fabricated novel core–shell structures. Finally, we developed pressure sensors utilizing these fiber structures for endovascular applications. The sensors were tested under simulated physiological conditions. We observed significant improvements using core–shell electrospun fibers (4.5 times gain in signal intensity, 4000 μV/mmHg sensitivity) over PVDF nanofibers (280 μV/mmHg). The preliminary results showed that core–shell fiber-based devices exhibit nearly 40-fold higher sensitivity, compared to the thin-film structures demonstrated earlier.