Electrospun PVDF/PAN membrane for pressure sensor and sodium-ion battery separator

In this study, polyvinylidene fluoride/polyacrylonitrile (PVDF/PAN) membrane is fabricated via electrospinning method. Results indicate that the morphology of PVDF/PAN membrane is relatively uniform and its fiber diameter is mostly in the range of 100–300 nm. Meanwhile, β-phase is dominant (i.e., the β-phase content is 83.4%) in such membrane, and their tensile properties (i.e., tensile strength and elongation at break) are about 7 MPa and 26%, respectively. In addition, the membrane can be used as a piezoelectric nanogenerator due to its high β-phase content of PVDF. The piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENG) exhibit a good piezoelectric output voltage of 1.3 V when the impacting force is 1 N and durability. Moreover, it shows promising applications for real-time monitoring human movement (i.e., hopping, running, and walking) and different finger bending. Furthermore, such PVDF/PAN membrane can be utilized as a separator for sodium-ion battery, and the cell exhibits a stable cycle performance with a coulombic efficiency of 98.9% after 50 cycles.Graphical abstract