PVDF nanofibers: a mini review of preparation principles via electrospinning, surface morphology, and potential applications

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) has been a kind of particularly attractive piezoelectric material for its excellent piezoelectric property, flexibility, high thermal stability, lightweight nature, and chemical resistance. Electrospinning has been recognized as a straightforward and effective technique for generating nanofibers from polymer solutions, which serve as their initial precursors. The electrospun PVDF nanofibers have garnered significant interest from researchers owing to their high specific surface area, excellent piezo-, pyro-, and ferroelectricity, high chemical resistance, good mechanical strength, and flexibility. Electrospun PVDF nanofibers represent a crucial new material for the rapidly advancing technological developments, including applications in nanofibers-based oil cleanup, environmental monitoring, energy harvesting, filtration, sensors, physiological health monitoring, and so on. In this review, we address the PVDF chemical structure, highlight recent research that summarizes the influence of electrospinning parameters—such as solution parameters, ambient parameters, and processing parameters—on the production of electrospun PVDF nanofibers. Furthermore, recent advancements concerning the surface morphology of electrospun PVDF nanofibers, along with their properties and applications, have been examined. Crucially, we believe that our work can provide valuable guidelines for the preparation, surface morphology, and applications of electrospun PVDF nanofibers.