Aluminum impregnated zinc oxide engineered poly(vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene)‐based flexible nanocomposite for efficient harvesting of mechanical energy

Abstract

Confronting the depletion of fossil fuel energy as well as pollution generated from chemical batteries, associated with the increasing number of electronic equipment and the internet of things, results in a high requirement of lightweight, low cost, sustainable, and durable power devices. Currently, a flexible and self-powered piezoelectric energy harvester (PZEH) is a suitable alternative, which may be easily integrated with small electronics to realize real-time sustainable energy generation. Therefore, a novel PZEH has been fabricated at room temperature (30 C) using Al-doped ZnO (Al@ZnO) incorporated poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) nanocomposites. Al@ZnO enables nucleation of electroactive phase within PVDF-HFP (10PALZO) exhibited polarity at a much higher fraction (F[EA] >90%) compared to neat PVDF-HFP (F[EA] = 63.8%). Piezoelectric energy harvesting capability of the device has been investigated under gentle repeated human finger tapping.

Augmenting Piezoelectric Performance of Poly (vinylidene fluoride) Nanogenerator with Zinc Oxide Nanorods Decorated Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheets

“…Applying an electric field results in a clear illustration of the ease with which dipoles can be switched, as indicated by the phase hysteresis loop. The fabricated nanocomposites have demonstrated their ferroelectric properties by undergoing phase changes in response to an applied electric field. , The asymmetric behavior of the loop is a result of the generated internal bias inside the nanocomposite. Due to the all-trans orientation of the dipole −CH 2 /–CF 2 in PVDF, the D-10 nanocomposite exhibits a substantial amount of the β phase.…”