Research progress of piezoelectric polymer PVDF in sound absorption technology

Owing to its impedance properties and piezoelectric effect, the piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) finds application in the field of noise control. Traditional sound-absorbing materials have gradually fallen short of the demands of sound-absorbing functionality and environmental adaptability in today’s increasingly acute noise pollution environment. When PVDF is added to sound absorption, materials or structures have an additional loss path for the conversion of sound energy to electric energy. This helps to increase the low-frequency sound absorption band and improve low-frequency sound absorption performance. Through the action of viscosity, friction, relaxation, piezoelectric effect, and dielectric loss, the sound energy in the passive sound-absorbing material containing PVDF is transformed into energy dissipation in the form of heat energy, electric energy, and so on under the matching of PVDF low impedance. In active control, secondary sound and force sources can be supplied by PVDF-based transducers and actuators to reduce noise. This paper first provides an overview of the piezoelectric characteristics of β-phase PVDF and its optimization techniques. It then goes on to discuss the use of PVDF in passive sound-absorbing materials, active controls, and hybrid sound absorption systems. Finally, it summarizes the benefits, issues that still need to be resolved, and future directions for these three noise reduction techniques.