Effect of multilayer fabrication of PVDF/PZT fibers on output performance in piezoelectric nanogenerator (PEN)

In this study, multilayer electrospun mats with a porous structure based on PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride)/PZT (lead zirconate titanate) were fabricated by compressing the materials through a laminating process. To build a high-performance PEN, an efficient electromechanical transformation was achieved by the combination of multilayered porous structures which contributed to the surface-bound charge density and PZT particles which contributed to the formation of the β phase in the composite structure. Under a resistive load of 1 MΩ, the four-layer PEN composite with a thickness of 263 μm based on PVDF/10%vol.PZT had an almost 4 times higher electrical power efficiency (15.54 μW) compared to that of the single layer PEN (4.08 μW) at a vibrational frequency of 25 Hz. This work demonstrated that the proposed multilayer design provides an alternative strategy to improving the piezoelectricity of the electrospun fiber. Hence, the fabrication of multilayer PENs exhibits promising potential for applications such as self-powered wearable electronic devices, smart textiles, vibration monitoring, etc.