A unique piezoelectric nanogenerator composed of melt-spun PVDF/KNN nanorod-based nanocomposite fibre

• Published in: European polymer journal Vol. 116; pp. 554 - 561
• Main Authors: Bairagi, Satyaranjan, Ali, S. Wazed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Beta phase; Electric power generation; Electronic devices; Filaments; Lead-free; Melt spinning; Nanocomposite fibre; Nanocomposites; Nanogenerators; Nanorods; Piezoelectric; Piezoelectricity; Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Smart polymer; Textiles; Wearable technology; Nanocomposite fibre; Nanorods; Piezoelectric; Smart polymer; Lead-free
• ISSN: 0014-3057; 1873-1945
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.04.043

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•KNN Nanorods (NRs) with higher aspect ratio (~8.5) have been successfully incorporated in the melt-spun PVDF filament.•A breakthrough study where only 4% KNN NRs in PVDF melt-spun filament could generate 3.7 V.•The presence of KNN NRs in PVDF melt matrix acts as a β-nucleating agent.
The requirement of portable and wearable electronic gadgets has been increased tremendously in the recent past due to the advancement of self-powered technologies. In the present work, a flexible nanogenerator based on fibrous nanocomposite has been successfully demonstrated. Nanogenerator is composed of PVDF as a polymer matrix and KNN nanorods as a filler material. The PVDF/KNN composite filaments have been prepared by twin-screw melt mixing and subsequently melt-spinning process with various percentage of KNN nanorods (0%, 2%, 4%, and 6% on the weight of polymer). The nanogenerator was made of PVDF/4%KNN NRs based filament which exhibited the highest F(β) value (i.e. 26% polar β phase). The dielectric constant for the PVDF/4%KNN NRs filament based nanogenerator was 175, which is the highest value as compared to other nanogenerators (73 for P-PVDF, 134 for PVDF/2%KNN NRs and 131 for PVDF/6%KNN NRs filament based nanogenerators). The PVDF/4%KNN NRs filament based nanogenerator could also generate around 3.7 V voltage and 0.326μA current, respectively. This performance of the nanogenerator is high enough to use in the portable and wearable electronic goods in textiles as a renewable power source.