Flexible Fiber Nanogenerator Fabrication by Poly(vinyldene floride) Piezo-polymer

Document Type : Research/ Original/ Regular Article

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Abstract

We are surrounded by various small mechanical energy sources which are normally ignored. Although their individual level of energy is quite low, the total amount of energy produced should be considered significance. Utilization of these energies that have so far been neglected can be very useful, especially for charging portable and wireless electronic devices that they should be charged frequently. Supplying electrical energy needed for the microelectronic devices can also be of the great importance from the environment point of view. Piezoelectric materials are able to convert mechanical to electrical energy (and vice versa) and can be considered as the best choice for harvesting energy devices. However, they are thick and rigid and have a low efficiency in the form of polymeric films. In this paper, an attempt is made to fabricate a flexible nano-generator using piezoelectric properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for harvesting electrical energy. The flexibility of polymer can be useful for fabrication of self-chargeable microelectronics and suitable for using in the wearable textile. Electrospining was used for fabrication of PVDF nanofibers. XRD, SEM and V-Out results showed that the flexible nano-generator based on PVDF nano-fibers could be fabricated and utilized in the smart clothing sectors for supplying the electrical power. The results of output voltage and current of both PVDF thin fim (0.5 V, 0.6 pA) and nano-fiber mat (3.4 V, 3 mA) show a considerable improvement of V-out for the nano-fiber mat vs. film which is promising for energy harvesting piezoelectric material.

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