Nano-ZnO/PVDF Hybrid Film for Application in Flexible Waterproof Ultraviolet Photodetector

Due to the rise of research on wearable electronic devices, flexible and waterproof electronic and optoelectronic devices have attracted much attention in recent years. Considering the limitations of its three-dimensional crystal structure and instability in humid environments, the application of ZnO material in wearable devices has been limited seriously. Herein, a flexible and waterproof ultraviolet photodetector was prepared by drop-coating ZnO NPs/PVDF hybrid film on a PET substrate. Because of the existence of PVDF between ZnO nanoparticles, the decay time of the device (1.3 s) decreases significantly compared with the device based on ZnO nanoparticles film (6.86 s). The obtained photodetector exhibits good waterproof performance; even if soaked in water for 55 min, its photocurrent and rise/decay time only slightly change. With the increase of the bend degree, the photocurrent is decreased, and the rise/decay time is also decreased. After being bent 1000 times, the photodetector still has high photocurrent (0.4 μA) and significant photoresponse characteristics. The obtained results demonstrate that this photodetector based on a ZnO NPs/PVDF hybrid film has great potential in the actual application of wearable electronics.