Improved MgO/P(VDF-TrFE) Piezoelectric Nanogenerator with Flexible Electrode

This paper demonstrates a technique for increasing the output power of a 2wt% MgO/P(VDF-TrFE) nanogenerator with a variegated electrode martial coating and determines an optimal electrode and substrate material combination for harvesting energy from vibrations. The MgO nanofillers in the MgO/P(VDF-TrFE) composite have a size of 50 nm as measured by SEM, and the F1s, O1s, C1s, and Mg2p elements are present at energy levels of 689 eV, 530 eV, 289 eV, and 50.5 eV, as confirmed by XPS. The FTIR peaks of 841 and 1288 cm−1 confirm the β-phase. Each silver, graphite, and rGO electrode material is separately coated over the MgO/P(VDF-TrFE) film with two different flexible copper and ITO/PET substrates, and these six devices produce electric potential under mechanical excitation. The rGO electrode with ITO/PET substrate devices generates 3.2 Vpk-pk open circuit voltage. The energy harvesting devices voltage, current and power analysis with respect to various resistive loads are presented. The rGO electrode with an ITO/PET device produces more power 312 mW at 10 Ω resistive load compared with other piezoelectric nanogenerator. The harvested power is used for flexible sensor and wearable biomedical applications.