Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Stretchable Piezoelectric Nanogenerators for Self-Powered Wearable Electronics

Piezoelectric nanocomposite-based nanogenerators are gaining extensive attention as energy harvesters and self-powered tactile sensors for their applications in wearable electronics and personal healthcare. Herein, a facile, cost-effective, and industrially scalable process flow is reported for the fabrication of high performance mechanically robust nanocomposite-based stretchable nanogenerator (SNG) on polydimethylsiloxane substrate. The inorganic/organic nanocomposite piezoelectric energy harvesting devices are realized by encapsulating the ZnO nanowires in a parylene C polymer matrix. The suggested fabrication process flow is implemented to fabricate SNG on flexible bank cards. The SNG devices exhibit excellent performances with a high open-circuit voltage approximate to 10 V, short-circuit current density approximate to 0.11 mu A cm(-2), and peak power approximate to 3 mu W under a vertical compressive force using a mechanical shaker. The obtained electricity from the SNG devices is used to drive electronic devices such as liquid crystal displays without employing any storage unit, implying the device significance in the field of consumer electronics. Besides, commercially available energy harvesting modules are used to store the generated electrical energy in capacitors. Furthermore, the SNG device can be adopted as self-powered wearable tactile sensor for detecting slight body movements, which shows its potential applications in autonomous wearable electronics.