Herein, we investigate the morphology, structure and piezoelectric performances of neat polyvinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) and PVDF-HFP/Co-ZnO nanofibers, fabricated by electrospinning. An increase in the amount of crystalline β-phase of PVDF-HFP has been observed with the increase in Co-doped ZnO nanofiller concentration in the PVDF-HFP matrix. The dielectric constants of the neat PVDF-HFP and PVDF-HFP/2 wt.% Co-ZnO nanofibers are derived as 8 and 38 respectively. The flexible nanogenerator manipulated from the polymer nanocomposite (PVDF-HFP/Co-ZnO) exhibits an output voltage as high as 2.8 V compared with the neat PVDF-HFP sample (~120 mV). These results indicate that the investigated nanocomposite is appropriate for fabricating various flexible and wearable self-powered electrical devices and systems.

Integrating efficient energy harvesting materials in to soft, flexible, and eco-friendly substrates could yield significant breakthroughs in wearable and flexible electronics. Substantial advances are emerged in fabricating devices which can conform to irregular surfaces in addition to integrating piezoelectric polymer nanocomposites in to mechanical generators and bendable electronics. Here, we present a tri-phasic filler combination of one-dimensional titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanotubes, twodimensional reduced graphene oxide, and three-dimensional strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 ), introduced in to a semi-crystalline polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene). Simple mixing method was adopted for the composite fabrication after ensuring a high interaction between the various fillers. The prepared films were tested for their piezoelectric responses and mechanical stretchability. The results showed that the piezoelectric constant has increased due to the change in the filler concentration and reached a value of 7.52 pC/N at 1:2 filler combination. The output voltage obtained for the same filler composition was about 10.5 times that of the voltage generated by the neat polymer. Thus, we propose integration of these materials in fabricating energy conversion devices that can be useful in flexible and wearable electronics.

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In this work, we report Ni doped ZnO/poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) [PVDF-HFP] nanocomposites prepared by sandwiching and highlight their application in piezoelectric nano-generators.

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