Piezoelectric and Triboelectric Contributions by Aromatic Hyperbranched Polyesters of Second-Generation/PVDF Nanofiber-Based Nanogenerators for Energy Harvesting and Wearable Electronics

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.