High-Performance Flexible Piezoelectric Nanogenerator Based on Electrospun PVDF-BaTiO₃ Nanofibers for Self-Powered Vibration Sensing Applications

Abstract

In the present era of intelligent electronics and Internet of Things (IoT), the demand for flexible and wearable devices is very high. Here, we have developed a high-output flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) based on electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-barium titanate (BaTiO3) (ES PVDF-BT) composite nanofibers with an enhanced electroactive phase. On addition of 10 wt % BaTiO3 nanoparticles, the electroactive β-phase of the PVDF is found to be escalated to ∼91% as a result of the synergistic interfacial interaction between the tetragonal BaTiO3 nanoparticles and the ferroelectric host polymer matrix on electrospinning. The fabricated PENG device delivered an open-circuit voltage of ∼50 V and short-circuit current density of ∼0.312 mA m–2. Also, the PVDF-BT nanofiber-based PENG device showed an output power density of ∼4.07 mW m–2, which is 10 times higher than that of a pristine PVDF nanofiber-based PENG device. Furthermore, the developed PENG has been newly demonstrated for self-powered real-time vibration sensing applications such as for mapping of mechanical vibrations from faulty CPU fans, hard disk drives, and electric sewing machines.