Development of High-Performance Piezoelectric Polymer Fiber Material using Atmospheric Moisture

 by Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Professor Kim, Miso

- Investigation of electric generation that controls piezoelectric Fiber Polymer structure using atmospheric moisture

- The suggestion of self-sustaining fiber motion sensor technology

SKKU (President Shin, Dongryeol) Advanced Material Science and Engineering Research team of Professor Kim, Miso (first co-author Researcher Kim, Dabin) developed a self-sustainable fiber motion sensor using atmospheric moisture.

The piezoelectric polymer fiber material is eco-friendly among Piezoelectric materials that can generate electricity by mechanical transformation. In addition, it does not include lead and has flexible features, showing potential for medical usage or a wearable self-sustaining sensor. However, the limitation was that performances are poor compared to piezoelectric ceramic materials containing lead. Hence, there was research to enhance piezoelectric performance by controlling the chemical properties of a material.

Thus, the research team focused on the structural aspect of piezoelectric material to suggest a method in which structure control enhances the self-sustaining piezoelectric fiber sensor element. Structure with a porous surface rendering superior piezoelectric sensor performance even if it is the same piezoelectric fiber material was theoretically confirmed.

[연구그림] Schematicdiagram of the process of forming porous surfaces in textile materials

The team identified process conditions for experimental verification to induce porous surfaces using atmospheric moisture. Then, it combined it with the electrospinning method, a fiber-producing method using electricity, to produce porous piezoelectric polymer fiber material successfully. By using piezoelectric polymer fiber with a porous surface, the research team could portray a better self-sustaining motion sensor with higher piezoelectric voltage and electricity performance than the existing one.

Prof. Kim, Miso added “Porous structure control method using atmospheric moisture not only enhances piezoelectric fiber-based self-sustaining motion sensor’s performance but also signifies securement of piezoelectric material development technology.

This research was supported by: the Ministry of Science and ICT, the primary research support project (mid-size study) promoted by the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Future Materials Discovery Project, and the Nanomaterial Technology Development Project. The research was recently published in the international journal ‘Small’ (IF=13.281) online and was selected as the official publication cover.

※ Research Title: “Ambient Humidity-Induced Phase Separation for Fiber Morphology Engineering toward Piezoelectric Self-Powered Sensing”,Small, 2022

URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smll.202105811