Influence of in situ synthesized bismuth oxide nanostructures in self‐poled PVDF‐based nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting application

A self‐poled piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) based on bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanostructures (BNS)‐doped poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is demonstrated. The in‐situ formation of BNS incorporated in the PVDF matrix is realized through a simple solution casting technique that favors the nucleation and stabilization of 99.6% of the electroactive phase in PVDF (i.e., β/γ‐phases). The enhancement of the output voltage (3.6 V) and current (2.4 µA) of the NG based on a nonelectrically poled BNS containing PVDF composite film is achieved and demonstrated by simple repeated human finger imparting. The improvement of the output performance is influenced by the generation of the electroactive polar β‐phase in PVDF, due to the electrostatic interactions between the –CH2–/–CF2– dipoles of PVDF and the surface charge of the BNS. The NGs are able to charge up capacitors demonstrating that the power generation from such a hybrid device structure can be utilized for powering various portable devices. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E265–E274, 2019.