Highly Durable Piezo-Electric Energy Harvester by A Super Toughened and Flexible Nanocomposite: Effect of Laponite Nano-Clay in Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride)

A highly durable piezoelectric energy harvester is introduced by integrating the toughness and flexibility of a non-electrically poled, laponite nano-clay mineral-induced.-phase (up to 98%) in a poly(vinylidene-fluoride) (PVDF) matrix by a simple solvent evaporation technique. Owing to a superior electromechanical coupling effect, PVDF/laponite nanocomposites retain excellent biomechanical energy harvesting capabilities under external vibration (as high as 6 V output voltage and 70 nA output current under a compressive force of 300 N) and charge storage properties under an external high electric field (maximum 0.8 J cm(-3) of discharged energy density at a breakdown strength of 302 MV m(-1)). As a proof of concept, the fabricated nanogenerator (NG) possesses a high output power density (similar to 6.3 mW m(-2)) that directly drives several consumer electronics without using any storage system or batteries. It paves the way for potential applicability in next generation electronics, particularly as a self-powered device and to configure sustainable internet of things (IoT) sensor networks.