Interfacial piezoelectric polarization locking in printable Ti3C2Tx MXene-fluoropolymer composites
Nick A. Shepelin, Peter C. Sherrell, Emmanuel N. Skountzos, Eirini Goudeli, Jizhen Zhang, Vanessa C. Lussini, Beenish Imtiaz, Ken Aldren S. Usman, Greg W. Dicinoski, Joseph G. Shapter, Joselito M. Razal, Amanda V. Ellis
Abstract
Abstract Piezoelectric fluoropolymers convert mechanical energy to electricity and are ideal for sustainably providing power to electronic devices. To convert mechanical energy, a net polarization must be induced in the fluoropolymer, which is currently achieved via an energy-intensive electrical poling process. Eliminating this process will enable the low-energy production of efficient energy harvesters. Here, by combining molecular dynamics simulations, piezoresponse force microscopy, and electrodynamic measurements, we reveal a hitherto unseen polarization locking phenomena of poly(vinylidene fluoride– co –trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) perpendicular to the basal plane of two-dimensional (2D) Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanosheets. This polarization locking, driven by strong electrostatic interactions enabled exceptional energy harvesting performance, with a measured piezoelectric charge coefficient, d 33 , of −52.0 picocoulombs per newton, significantly higher than electrically poled PVDF-TrFE (approximately −38 picocoulombs per newton). This study provides a new fundamental and low-energy input mechanism of poling fluoropolymers, which enables new levels of performance in electromechanical technologies.