ETD

• Biomedical applications
• Electrospinning
• Janus nanofibers
• PAN
• Piezoelectric polymers
• Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
• PVDF-HFP

This thesis focuses on the design, fabrication, and characterization of PVDF-HFP/PAN piezoelectric Janus ultrafine fibers for biomedical applications, with particular relevance to auditory sensing. Sensorineural hearing loss originates from impaired mechano-electrical transduction within the cochlea, motivating the development of soft, flexible, and biomimetic alternatives to conventional cochlear implants. Piezoelectric polymers are attractive candidates in this context due to their mechanical compliance, low acoustic impedance, and biocompatibility. In this work, a Janus fiber architecture is adopted to introduce structural asymmetry at the nanoscale by combining PVDF-HFP and PAN in a side-by-side configuration, enabling an intrinsic unimorph-like behavior without relying on multilayer assemblies or adhesive interfaces. Janus nanofibers are fabricated via eccentric bifluid electrospinning and characterized through morphological analysis. The electromechanical behavior of the resulting nanofibrous meshes is investigated using complementary macroscopic techniques and nanoscale piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), providing a multiscale framework for the study of piezoelectric polymer-based architectures.