Exploration of 2D Ti3C2 MXene for all solution processed piezoelectric nanogenerator applications

Abstract

A new 2D titanium carbide (Ti3C2), a low dimensional material of the MXene family has attracted remarkable interest in several electronic applications, but its unique structure and novel properties are still less explored in piezoelectric energy harvesters. Herein, a systematic study has been conducted to examine the role of Ti3C2 multilayers when it is incorporated in the piezoelectric polymer host. The 0.03 g/L of Ti3C2 has been identified as the most appropriate concentration to ensure the optimum performance of the fabricated device with a generated output voltage of about 6.0 V. The probable reasons might be due to the uniformity of nanofiller distribution in the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and the incorporation of Ti3C2 in a polymer matrix is found to enhance the β-phase of PVDF and diminish the undesired α-phase configuration. Low tapping frequency and force were demonstrated to scavenge electrical energy from abundant mechanical energy resources particularly human motion and environmental stimuli. The fabricated device attained a power density of 14 µW.cm−2 at 10.8 MΩ of load resistor which is considerably high among 2D material-based piezoelectric nanogenerators. The device has also shown stable electrical performance for up to 4 weeks and is practically able to store energy in a capacitor and light up a LED. Hence, the Ti3C2-based piezoelectric nanogenerator suggests the potential to realize the energy harvesting application for low-power electronic devices.

A Flexible Nanocomposite Film of Electrochemically Exfoliated Graphene @ Ti3CNTx for Supercapacitors with high Volumetric Capacitance

“…The observed morphology validates the effectiveness of etching and successful removal of aluminum from the parent MAX phases. 36 The TEM analysis of the MXene nanomaterial verifies (Figure 1c) the layered structure as observed in the SEM image (Figure 1b), with uniformly spaced fringes and edges on the wide-edged MXene sheets.…”

2D Material‐Based Wearable Energy Harvesting Textiles: A Review

“…Other 2D materials (e.g., MXene and h-BN) have shown potential in mechanical energy harvesting. [101,253,455] High mechanical flexibility and piezoelectric coefficient make them ideal candidates for the efficient energy conversion. [456,457] In addition, the large bandgap of hBN ensures reduced leakage current and improved energy harvesting capabilities in piezoelectric devices.…”

PVDF/AgNP/MXene composites-based near-field electrospun fiber with enhanced piezoelectric performance for self-powered wearable sensors

“…Pierre and Jacques Curie were the first to discover that the asymmetric movement of ions or charges in piezoelectric materials is caused by deformation via the changes in electrical polarization [ 26 – 28 ] . Due to their relatively high piezoelectric coefficients and natural flexibility, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers have been widely used in the production of organic piezoelectric materials [ 29 – 32 ] . Kawai et al .…”

“…Kawai et al . discovered that PVDF has five main phases: alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), epsilon (ε), and delta (δ) [ 32 ] . The main electroactivity of PVDF arises from its crystalline ferroelectric phases (γ- and β-phase), with the γ-phase being less electroactive than the β-phase [ 33 ] .…”