Nanogenerators capable of converting energy from mechanical sources to electricity with high effective efficiency using low-cost, nonsemiconducting, organic nanomaterials are attractive for many applications, including energy harvesters. In this work, near-field electrospinning is used to direct-write poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers with in situ mechanical stretch and electrical poling characteristics to produce piezoelectric properties. Under mechanical stretching, nanogenerators have shown repeatable and consistent electrical outputs with energy conversion efficiency an order of magnitude higher than those made of PVDF thin films. The early onset of the nonlinear domain wall motions behavior has been identified as one mechanism responsible for the apparent high piezoelectricity in nanofibers, rendering them potentially advantageous for sensing and actuation applications.

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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.

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