Shehata Nader, Nair Remya, Jain Ankur, Gamal Mohammed, Hassanin Ahmad, Noman Sara, Shyha Islam, Kruczała Krzysztof, Saad Marwa, Kandas Ishac
Kuwait College of Science and Technology, Doha Area, 7th Ring Road, 13133, Safat, Kuwait.
Centre of Smart Materials, Nanotechnology and Photonics (CSNMP), Smart CI Research Centre, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21544, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 23;15(1):14073. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-98048-2.
This study investigates the enhancement of piezoelectric and optical fluorescence properties in electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanocomposite membranes doped with cerium oxide (Ce) at varying weight percentages. An optical characterisation using absorbance analysis found a blue shift in the bandgap of the ceria NPs, which also enhanced UV absorption in the PVDF polymer. At some additive doses, luminosity analysis demonstrated an incremental fluorescence impact. However, above a certain point, additional increases seemed to have a quenching effect, which decreased fluorescence. FTIR based analysis revealed the enhanced β sheets content to 61.75% in the sample of PVDF with a ceria 5 wt%. The fabricated nanofiber membrane displayed an average fiber diameter of around 108 nm. XRD analysis confirms that the incorporation of Ce significantly promotes the formation of the β-phase in PVDF, thereby improving its piezoelectric response. Additionally, water contact angle measurements indicate increased hydrophobicity in the nanocomposite membranes, expanding their applicability in sensing and energy harvesting applications. ICP-OES and XRF analysis confirm that Ce was successfully incorporated with the PVDF chain. The dual role of ceria as both a nucleating agent for β-phase formation and an optical fluorescence enhancer highlights its potential for the development of multifunctional nanocomposites. This work presents a novel approach to engineering PVDF-based materials with enhanced piezoelectricity and optical fluorescence for advanced technological applications. This ultrasensitive PVDF with a ceria 5 wt% nanogenerator demonstrated pronounced piezoactivity, generating a maximum of 9 V with 3 N load at 1.5 Hz frequency which is almost three times of the output generated by pure PVDF. The formed oxygen vacancies according to tri-valent cerium ions, which have been showed through optical characteristics, supports the nucleation of PVDF chains around ceria NPs. The resultant PVDF/ceria nanomembrane demonstrated a remarkable maximum power density of 89 mW/m, demonstrating its load-bearing capability. With its dual functionality as an optical sensor and an energy harvesting unit, this adaptable nanocomposite shows potential for use in multifunctional devices.
本研究调查了不同重量百分比掺杂氧化铈（Ce）的电纺聚偏氟乙烯（PVDF）纳米复合膜中压电和光学荧光性能的增强情况。使用吸光度分析进行的光学表征发现，二氧化铈纳米颗粒的带隙发生蓝移，这也增强了PVDF聚合物中的紫外线吸收。在某些添加剂剂量下，发光度分析显示出荧光影响的增加。然而，超过某一点后，进一步增加似乎会产生猝灭效应，从而降低荧光。基于傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）的分析表明，在含有5 wt%二氧化铈的PVDF样品中，β片层含量增加到61.75%。制备的纳米纤维膜的平均纤维直径约为108纳米。X射线衍射（XRD）分析证实，Ce的掺入显著促进了PVDF中β相的形成，从而改善了其压电响应。此外，水接触角测量表明纳米复合膜的疏水性增加，扩大了它们在传感和能量收集应用中的适用性。电感耦合等离子体发射光谱（ICP-OES）和X射线荧光光谱（XRF）分析证实Ce成功地与PVDF链结合。二氧化铈作为β相形成的成核剂和光学荧光增强剂的双重作用突出了其在开发多功能纳米复合材料方面的潜力。这项工作提出了一种新颖的方法来设计具有增强压电性和光学荧光的基于PVDF的材料，用于先进技术应用。这种含有5 wt%二氧化铈的超灵敏PVDF纳米发电机表现出明显的压电活性，在1.5赫兹频率下，3 N负载时产生的最大电压为9 V，几乎是纯PVDF产生的输出电压的三倍。通过光学特性显示的由三价铈离子形成的氧空位，支持了PVDF链在二氧化铈纳米颗粒周围的成核。所得的PVDF/二氧化铈纳米膜表现出显著的最大功率密度89 mW/m，证明了其承载能力。凭借其作为光学传感器和能量收集单元的双重功能，这种适应性强的纳米复合材料在多功能器件中显示出应用潜力。
