Stretchable piezo‐electric energy harvesting device with high durability using carbon nanomaterials with different structure and their synergism with molybdenum disulfide

Abstract

Recently, polymer composite based stretchable piezo‐electric energy harvesting device have attracted a great attention in composite industry. At laboratory scale, these piezo‐electric devices have ability to generate impressive voltage (~8 V) with high durability (>0.5 million cycles) depending upon nature of the material used in electrode and substrate. In this work, composites were prepared by mixing room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV‐SR) and nanofillers such as multi‐wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), nano‐carbon black (nano‐CB), graphite nanoplatelets (GNP), in single or hybrid with molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). These fillers differentiate on basis of their structure ranging from 0‐dimensional (0‐D) to 3‐D. The effects of these structures on mechanical properties are demonstrated. Among them, MWCNT with 1‐D, tube shape morphology, high aspect ratio of 65 shows dominating mechanical properties even at 2 per hundred parts of rubber (phr) loading followed by nano‐CB, GNP at 8 phr and MoS2 at 2 phr. A synergistic effect in mechanical properties between hybrid fillers such as tensile strength and fracture strain was demonstrated. In the end, the composites were tested for piezo‐electric energy generation and durability cycles for the best candidate such as MWCNT was tested for up to 0.5 million cycles was demonstrated.

The Electro-Mechanical Energy Harvesting Configurations in Different Modes from Machine to Self-Powered Wearable Electronics

“…A lower frequency is much more suitable to run this prepared energy harvesting device. The voltage value remained almost constant at around 0.125 mV, indicating a consistent activation of charge carriers . The low voltage is because the specimen lacks conductive material, which causes the transportation of free electrons to slow down .…”

“…Figure e shows the results of the second sample that underwent cyclic loading and was a rubber sample with 3 phr MWCNT content, resulting in enhanced conductivity and an initial voltage output of around 1.25 mV. As the number of cycles increased, the voltage output also slightly increased, suggesting an improvement in activating charge carriers due to the repeated loading . This sample showed potential for use in applications requiring high electrical conductivity, such as sensors or actuators …”

“…The voltage value remained almost constant at around 0.125 mV, indicating a consistent activation of charge carriers. 64 The low voltage is because the specimen lacks conductive material, which causes the transportation of free electrons to slow down. 74 The constant voltage value suggests that the specimen did not experience any significant failure during the 30% cyclic strain for 13.33 min of cyclic loading.…”

“…As the number of cycles increased, the voltage output also slightly increased, suggesting an improvement in activating charge carriers due to the repeated loading. 64 This sample showed potential for use in applications requiring high electrical conductivity, such as sensors or actuators. 65 The 5 phr MWCNT sample exhibited the highest voltage, as shown in Figure 4f.…”

Molybdenum disulfide polymeric nanoarchitectures and applications: A review

“…MoS 2 @PNC have exhibited increased toughness, enhanced tribological attributes, improved thermal stability, and enhanced flame repression. On the other hand, a versatile range of PNC has been fabricated for multifunctional applications 64‐135 . With the advancement in nanotechnology, it is anticipated that innovations generable in the next generation of MoS 2 @PNC are blue chip.…”