Fabrication and Characterization of High Performance PVDF-based flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators using PMN-xPT (x:30, 32.5, and 35) particles

Flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators based on polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and lead magnesium niobatelead titanate Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3(PMN-xPT compositions for x between 30 and 35) particles with various filler ratios from 10 to 30 vol% were fabricated through the electrospinning method. The phase and microstructural characterizations revealed that the homogenous and continuous fiber-shaped composite structure with good interfacial interaction between the PMN-PT particles and the PVDF matrix was achieved. It was found that the diameter of the neat PVDF fibers was approximately 354 nm, whereas the PVDF/PMN-35PT fibers with ceramic particle concentrations of 10, 20, and 30 vol% had average diameters of 317, 249, and 163 nm, respectively. The piezoelectric performance tests indicated that the 30 vol%PVDF/PMN-35PT nanogenerator had a 3 times greater electrical power efficiency (10.59 mu W) at 20 Hz compared to that of the pure PVDF nanogenerator (3.56 mu W) at 15 Hz under the same resistance load of 1 M omega. All in all, the incorporation of PMNT-PT particles into the PVDF appears to be a good approach for the fabrication of high-performance flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator applications for biomechanical energy harvesting of devices converting the mechanical movements of organs such as cardiac and lung into electrical energy.

Automated summary

Flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators based on PVDF and PMN-PT particles were fabricated. The incorporation of PMN-PT particles into PVDF resulted in a homogenous and continuous fiber-shaped composite structure with good interfacial interaction. The nanogenerator with 30%PVDF/PMN-35PT exhibited 3 times higher electrical power efficiency compared to pure PVDF nanogenerator under the same resistance load. This approach shows promise for high-performance flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator applications in biomechanical energy harvesting.