We present a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanogenerator (NG) with advantages of direct writing and in situ poling via near-field electrospinning (NFES), which is completely location addressable and substrate independent. The maximum output voltage reached 20 V from the three layers piled NGs with serial connections, and the maximum output current can exceed 390 nA with the parallel integration setup. Linear superposition and switching polarity of current and voltage tests were validated by the authentic piezoelectric output. Nanofiber (NF)-based devices with a length ∼5 cm can be easily attached on the human finger under folding-releasing at ∼45°, and the output voltage and current can reach 0.8 V and 30 nA, respectively. This work based on NFs can potentially have a huge impact on harvesting various external sources from mechanical energies.

In this study, we demonstrate a direct-write, in situ poled polyvinylidene fluoride power generator via near-field electrospinning and fully encapsulated on a flexible substrate. An unique polarity alignment and a total of 500 microfibers continuously deposited in parallel and serial configurations are capable of producing a peak output voltage of ∼1.7 V and the current of ∼300 nA, which is two to three orders of magnitude increase in both voltage/current outputs when compared with near-field electrospinning setup of a single nanofiber and the similar amount of microfibers with postpoling treatment.

In this study, we demonstrate highly flexible and substrate-independent piezoelectric nano-/microfiber (NMF) arrays that have the potential to function as a self-powered active deformation sensor.