Effect of substrate on electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanofibers based energy generating device

Abstract: This paper shows the effect of the substrate on the electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers based energy harvesting device. The PVDF nanofibers with the average diameter of 84.6 nm (± 23.5 nm) were prepared by using electrospinning. The high relative fraction of β phase (85.2％) was resulted by the applied voltage during the electrospinning. The prepared PVDF nanofibers generate the piezoelectric potential in accordance with the sound driven mechanical vibration of the substrate. In order to investigate the effect of the substrate intrinsic and extrinsic properties, the slide glass, poly(ethylene traphthalte) (PET), poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN), and paper were used as the substrate materials. The paper substrate (66 μm) with the moderate Young’s modulus and the least thickness showed the best output voltage (0.4885 V) among the substrates. For limiting the variable to thickness, the papers with different thickness (e.g. 76, 66, and 33 μm) were retrieved among the candidates because of the high performance. The highest output voltage (0.7781 V) was realized by using the thinnest paper substrate, and the numerical analyses on the sound-driven mechanical deformation strongly support the fact that the substrate thickness is the most decisive parameter to affect the piezoelectric performance.