The hydrophilicity of the surface achieved by plasma treatment effectively enhanced the transparency and promoted the biocompatibility of scaffolds. These nanofibers may act as biological cues for endorsing ocular surface engineering.
Poly(vinylidene
fluoride) (PVDF)-based piezoelectric nanogenerators,
though flexible, exhibit poor stretchability and mechanical stability.
This limits their application for harvesting energy from repeated
deformations arising from human articular motions. Herein, we propose
a simple and cost-effective approach to overcome the above issues
while simultaneously enhancing the piezoelectric effect of PVDF by
mixing a small amount of polyurethane (PU) in PVDF–PU nanofibers.
The presence of PU in PVDF could enhance electroactive phases by up
to 46%, as measured by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Interestingly, an addition of 21% of PU in PVDF exhibited both an
increase in the d
33 value from 3.02 to
7.064 pm/V and stretchability to 90%. For developing a stretchable
piezoelectric nanogenerator (S-PENG) device, stretchable electrodes
with a 4.5 gauge factor at 100% strain were fabricated by spin-coating
of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS):graphene
nanoplates on a prestrained PU substrate. S-PENG produced 3.8 V, 0.65
μA, and 0.48 μW/cm2 peak open-circuit voltage,
short-circuit current, and power density during cyclic deformation,
respectively, with electrical and mechanical stability for at least
2000 cycles. Its performance was demonstrated for various human articular
motions related to the knee, elbow, and foot by integrating it with
wearables. The generated energy from the S-PENG could readily charge
capacitors up to ∼650 mV in just 100 s. The designed S-PENGs
showed great potential in harvesting energy from simple human motions.
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