High-performance piezoelectric nanogenerator based on electrospun ZnO nanorods/P(VDF-TrFE) composite membranes for energy harvesting application

A novel flexible zinc oxide nanorods (NRs)/poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) nanocomposite was prepared by electrospinning for fabricating piezoelectric nanogenerator (PNG). The NRs were used as nanofillers of piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE), which can enhance the electroactive β-crystal ratio as well as the crystallinity of P(VDF-TrFE). It has been found that the addition of different levels of piezoelectric ZnO NRs can improve the overall performance of PNG made with electrospun membranes. The PNG comprised by 10 wt% ZnO NRs/P(VDF-TrFE) nanocomposite demonstrates an outstanding output open-circuit voltage (61 V) and short-circuit current (2.2 μA). It has been concluded that the ion–dipole interaction between NRs and electroactive β-crystals of P(VDF-TrFE) are useful for the construction of the high-performance flexible PNG. Besides, the output power generated from the PNG can directly light 25 commercial light-emitting diodes, and also capable to charge up a capacitor (4.7 μF) and reached 2.1 V in 2 min, which indicates the potential of the PNG for flexible wearable electronic devices.