Piezoelectric Nanogenerators Based On Pvdf-Hfp/Zno Mesoporous Silica Nanocomposites For Self-Powering Devices

Abstract

Due to the rising global concern over energy catastrophe and environmental issues, attention has been diverted towards future energy. In recent times, rechargeable power and renewable energy sources have been considered as an attractive substitute for resolving the future environmental problems. Among them, mechanical energy is one of the most abundant energy sources, and easily transformable to other useful energy forms, such as electrical energy. For such purposes, piezoelectric materials with ability to convert the mechanical energy generated by various activities into electrical energy. In this research work, we have investigated the morphology, structure and piezoelectric performances of neat polyvinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP), PVDF-HFP/ZnO, PVDF-HFP/Mesoporous silica, PVDF-HFP 1% and PVDF-HFP 3% ZnO-Mesoporous silica nanofibers, fabricated by electrospinning. Both SEM and TEM images of ZnO nanoparticles shows formation of uniform flake of about 5nm diameter and Mesoporous silica shows uniform spherical morphology with average diameter of 5 μm. EDX plot justifies the presences of Zn, O and Si. An increase in the amount of crystalline β-phase of PVDF-HFP has been observed with the introduction of ZnO and mesoporous silica in the PVDF-HFP matrix are observed in FTIR spectra. All the XRD peaks observed in neat PVDF has the strongest intensity compared to rest of the other XRD peaks of polymer nanocomposite. The XRD spectra of all the nanocomposites have peaks at 17.8°, 18.6° correspond to α- crystalline phase, the peaks observed at 19°, 20.1° correspond to the γ- crystalline phase, and the peak at 20.6° corresponds to the β- crystalline phase. The flexible nanogenerator manipulated from the polymer nanocomposite with 1% ZnO-Mesoporous silica exhibits an output voltage as high as 2 V compared with the neat PVDF-HFP sample (~120 mV). These results indicate that the investigated nanocomposite is appropriate for fabricating various flexible and wearable self-powered electrical devices and systems.