High performance piezoelectric nanogenerator with silver nanowires embedded in polymer matrix for mechanical energy harvesting

Organic-inorganic piezoelectric nanogenerators (PNGs) have attracted extensive attention for transforming mechanical energy into electricity in the field of self-powered wearables. Generally, the output electrical performance of PNGs can be enhanced by choosing various materials. Herein, the flexible PNG is fabricated by embedding the Sm-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O-3-PbTiO3 (Sm-PMN-PT) polycrystalline piezoelectric ceramics into polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) composite film. The ceramics with high piezoelectric voltage coefficient g(33) of Sm-PMN-PT are selected as piezoelectric fillers, and the silver nanowires (Ag NWs) with high aspect ratio are embedded as conductive fillers. The optimized electrical properties are achieved for the Ag NWs/15 wt%Sm-PMN-PT/P(VDF-TrFE) PNG, with the open-circuit voltage of up to 83.5 V and instantaneous power density of 7.48 mu W/cm(2). In particular, the good mechanical stability up to 6000 bending-releasing cycles are obtained after aging for two months. The finite element analysis is utilized to calculate the electric potential of piezoelectric composite materials. Moreover, the Ag NWs/15 wt%Sm-PMN-PT/P(VDF-TrFE) PNG could harvest mechanical energy from different types of human motion, such as taping, bending and pressing. All these results indicated that the Ag NWs/15 wt%Sm-PMN-PT/P(VDF-TrFE) PNG can serve as a promising candidate for the harvest mechanical energy in the surrounding environment.

Automated summary

A flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator with optimized electrical properties was fabricated, capable of harvesting mechanical energy from various human motions and demonstrating good mechanical stability. This presents a promising option for harvesting mechanical energy in the surrounding environment.