Sooun Lee, Dabin Kim, Sangryun Lee, Yong‐Il Kim, Sihyeon Kum, Sang‐Woo Kim, Yunseok Kim, Seunghwa Ryu, Miso Kim
IF 12.1
Small
Electrospun polymeric piezoelectric fibers have a considerable potential for shape-adaptive mechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing in biomedical, wearable, and industrial applications. However, their unsatisfactory piezoelectric performance remains an issue to be overcome. While strategies for increasing the crystallinity of electroactive β phases have thus far been the major focus in realizing enhanced piezoelectric performance, tailoring the fiber morphology can also be a promising alternative. Herein, a design strategy that combines the nonsolvent-induced phase separation of a polymer/solvent/water ternary system and electrospinning for fabricating piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE) fibers with surface porosity under ambient humidity is presented. Notably, electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) fibers with higher surface porosity outperform their smooth-surfaced counterparts with a higher β phase content in terms of output voltage and power generation. Theoretical and numerical studies also underpin the contribution of the structural porosity to the harvesting performance, which is attributable to local stress concentration and reduced dielectric constant due to the air in the pores. This porous fiber design can broaden the application prospects of shape-adaptive energy harvesting and self-powered sensing based on piezoelectric polymer fibers with enhanced voltage and power performance, as successfully demonstrated in this work by developing a communication system based on self-powered motion sensing.
Sooun Lee, Dabin Kim, Sangryun Lee, Yong‐Il Kim, Sihyeon Kum, Sang‐Woo Kim, Yunseok Kim, Seunghwa Ryu, Miso Kim
IF 12.1
Small
Electrospun polymeric piezoelectric fibers have a considerable potential for shape-adaptive mechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing in biomedical, wearable, and industrial applications. However, their unsatisfactory piezoelectric performance remains an issue to be overcome. While strategies for increasing the crystallinity of electroactive β phases have thus far been the major focus in realizing enhanced piezoelectric performance, tailoring the fiber morphology can also be a promising alternative. Herein, a design strategy that combines the nonsolvent-induced phase separation of a polymer/solvent/water ternary system and electrospinning for fabricating piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE) fibers with surface porosity under ambient humidity is presented. Notably, electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) fibers with higher surface porosity outperform their smooth-surfaced counterparts with a higher β phase content in terms of output voltage and power generation. Theoretical and numerical studies also underpin the contribution of the structural porosity to the harvesting performance, which is attributable to local stress concentration and reduced dielectric constant due to the air in the pores. This porous fiber design can broaden the application prospects of shape-adaptive energy harvesting and self-powered sensing based on piezoelectric polymer fibers with enhanced voltage and power performance, as successfully demonstrated in this work by developing a communication system based on self-powered motion sensing.
Asymmetric microdome structured flexible and skin-mountable pressure sensors monitored with computational analysis
Yeoul Kang, Mary Kim, Seung Geun Jo, Jongmoon Jang, Sang-Jin Lee, Ki Jun Yu, Sangryun Lee, Jung Taek Lee
IF 9.5
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
A novel solution employing an asymmetric microdome structure with varying radius sizes was prepared and supported by FEM analysis. Also, large-sized reduced graphene oxide was utilized to facilitate electron transfer within its large basal plane.
Layered hybrid lattice architectures for broadband electromagnetic absorption and improved structural stiffness
H. R. Yoon, Dahyun Daniel Lim, Grace X. Gu, Sangryun Lee
IF 10.7
Materials Horizons
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) presents a critical challenge across application areas such as wireless communication networks, defense technologies, and electronic devices. Although metamaterial absorbers offer excellent electromagnetic (EM) wave attenuation, their limited mechanical stiffness restricts their use in structurally demanding environments. This study introduces a new class of layered hybrid lattice absorbers that concurrently achieve broadband EM wave absorption and enhanced mechanical stiffness. Three-layer hybrid lattices are developed by combining simple cubic (SC), body-centered cubic (BC), and octet-truss (OT) architectures in diverse configurations. The relationship between broadband absorption and mechanical performance is then examined as a function of lattice arrangement. Finite element simulations are used to evaluate EM responses and effective stiffness across the 4-18 GHz frequency range. The simulations show that positioning an OT lattice in the upper layer leads to average EM absorption exceeding 95% due to improved impedance matching, whereas the middle layer primarily regulates how the residual energy is redistributed within the multilayer system. Incorporating an SC lattice in the lower layer enhances the structure's load-bearing capacity. We find that the OT-SC-SC configuration maintains strong EM absorption while providing approximately 36% greater stiffness in the out-of-plane (vertical stacking) direction and 118% greater stiffness in the in-plane directions relative to the benchmark OT-OT-OT configuration. These findings highlight that tailored spatial arrangement of lattice types enables simultaneous optimization of EM and mechanical functionalities. Positioning an OT lattice at the top and an SC lattice at the bottom is demonstrated to be an effective strategy for developing multifunctional metamaterial absorbers. This approach offers a foundational framework for next-generation absorbers targeting advanced EMI shielding and mechanically resilient applications.