Smart and robust electrospun fabrics of piezoelectric polymer nanocomposite for self-powering electronic textiles

Abstract

The present work designs a piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) based on the electrospun nanofibers of the piezoelectric polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP), by uniformly drawing the spun membranes containing cellulose nanocrystals (CNC, 2 wt%) and the Fe-doped nano ZnO (2 wt%). The hybrid nanocomposite fibers were made in double layers, with CNC/PVDF-HFP composite on one side and the Fe-doped ZnO/PVDF-HFP on the other side. This ferroelectric polymer composite exhibited maximum peak-to-peak output voltage of 12 V with a current density, 1.9 μAcm−2, which are respectively higher by 60 and 2.3 times compared to the neat polymer fibers. The PENG is tested for its energy harvesting ability by exposing it to different environments such as ultrasound vibrations and human body movements during hand tapping, elbow movements and by attaching with the textile fabrics. While the finger tapping generated peak-to-peak output voltage of 6.5 V, elbow movements resulted in 5.5 V generation. In all sorts of movements, the nanogenerator shows good output performance indicating its compatibility with textile materials. The mechanical properties, breakdown strength and dielectric properties of the material are also in accordance with its possible applications in wearable electronic textiles. Keywords: Electronic textiles, Nanogenerators, Dielectrics, Nanofabrics