Preparation and Evaluation of Piezoelectric Nanogenerators Based on PVDF Nanowires

Abstract

In the last decade, piezoelectric materials have received much attention for harvesting waste mechanical energy from surroundings. Piezoelectricity was first discovered in ceramic crystals. However, piezo-ceramics were toxic and fragile; therefore, polymeric-based piezo-materials were developed due to their excellent flexibility and biocompatibility. In this paper, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanowires have been synthesized while employing aluminum oxide nanopores (AAO) template. The scanning of electron microscopy (SEM) images have been used to study the morphology of the nanowires. Nanogenerators, based on PVDF nanowires, have been fabricated to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. A built- setup working with the frequency of 5Hz and impact force of 20N/m2 has been used to characterize the performance and efficiency of the nanogenerators. The nanogenerators, developed in this study, have demonstrated a power output efficiency of 14%.