Piezoelectric Nanogenerators based on Graphene Oxide/PVDF Electrospun Nanofiber with Enhanced Performances by In-Situ Reduction

Polymer-based piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) has broad prospects for harvesting mechanical energy and powering electronic devices. However, the piezoelectricity of polymer-based PENG is low which limits its applications. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) was added into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to prepare nanofiber mats by electrospinning. The content of beta phase of PVDF was improved by adding GO until fillers ratio increased to 2 wt%. At this time, the short-circuit current is 200 nA and the open-circuit voltage is 1.5 V. As excepted, the rGO obtained by reduction at 140 degrees C produced a higher content of beta-phase, and the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage reached 700 nA and 16 V, respectively, achieving the best power generation performance. The higher conductivity of rGO further improved the transfer of induced charge generated by PVDF. It is proved that rGO can enhance the piezoelectric response of the fiber mat by enhancing the induced charge of PVDF and the transfer of beta phase, which has great potential for improving the power generation performance of nanogenerators.

Automated summary

The study enhanced the piezoelectric performance by adding graphene oxide into polyvinylidene fluoride, improving the beta phase content and power generation efficiency. The reduced graphene oxide obtained by thermal reduction showed significant improvements in beta-phase transfer and induced charge, potentially enhancing the power generation performance of piezoelectric nanogenerators.