Flexible composites with Ce-doped BaTiO3/P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers for piezoelectric device

Abstract Flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting devices based on inorganic piezoelectric materials have attracted wide attention for their outstanding physical properties and potential applications. Different strategies, such as adding ductile elements, increasing sintering time, sintering in various atmospheres, mixing with organic compounds which usually is not only for piezoelectric materials, are also used to fabricate highly flexible devices. However, these methods always accompanied by a sharp reduction in piezoelectric performance, and then the sensitivity of the device will be reduced. Here, The flexible piezoelectric energy harvesting device by mixing Ce-doped barium titanate (BaTiO3, BTO) nanofibers with poly (vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] nanofibers is studied. Due to the introduction of P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers, the device show high flexibility. The device with high output signal is obtained, since both fillers are piezoelectric materials. The results show that the output power density of the device fabricated by Ce-BTO/P(VDF-TrFE) composite nanofibers is about six times larger than the device obtained by P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers. This proposed method is expected to provide reference for the development of future nanoscale piezoelectric-based energy harvesting devices and sensors.