Electrospun fibers are of interest in a number of applications due to their small size, simplicity of fabrication, and ease of modification of properties. Piezoelectric polymers such as Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) can be charged when formed in the electrospinning process. This chapter discusses fabrication of PVDF fiber mats and fiber yarns and the measurement of their charge using a custom-made Faraday bucket. The results show the measured charge per mass of fiber mats was greater than the values measured for the yarns of the same mass. The measured charges may be related to both mass and external surface areas of the mats and yarn samples. It was observed the area/mass ratios of the fiber yarns were more than 30% less than the fiber mats.
Part of the book: Nanofibers