Piezoelectric and Triboelectric Contributions by Aromatic Hyperbranched Polyesters of Second-Generation/PVDF Nanofiber-Based Nanogenerators for Energy Harvesting and Wearable Electronics
Ramadasu Gunasekhar, Amrutha Bindhu, Mohammad Shamim Reza, Arun Anand Prabu, Kap Jin Kim, Hongdoo Kim
Abstract
Piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are among the emerging technologies as energy harvesters, aided by their cost-effective device architecture and ease of fabrication. The present study investigates the influence of electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) blended with second-generation aromatic hyperbranched polyester (Ar.HBP-G2) of varied content (0 to 40 wt % relative to PVDF content) on the electrical characteristics of PENG/TENG devices. The optimized PVDF/Ar.HBP-G2–10-based PENG device produced an open-circuit voltage of 9.54 V, and the TENG device produced an open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of 158 V and 1.6 μA, respectively. Further, the fabricated PENG and TENG devices were tested for real-time applications to power up portable electronic devices and human healthcare monitoring from the harvested mechanical energy. Additionally, the long-term mechanical steadiness of the TENG was also studied. The above results provide great possibilities for fabricating high-performance and cost-effective energy harvesting and wearable devices.