The development of smart materials that can react to external stimuli and provide controlled and frequently reversible responses is facilitated by the coupling of physical effects. In this work, a photo-pyroelectric effect based on a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) polymer composite with fullerene C 60 incorporated at different concentrations (1, 3, 5, 10 and 20% wt.) has been developed with the aim of obtaining a multi responsive material: together with the piezoelectric and pyroelectric characteristics of the polymer, the inclusion of the fillers allow a photo-pyroelectric response, suitable for optoelectronic applications. The addition of fullerene – C 60 leads to a mechanical plasticizing effect in the polymer matrix, revealed by the decrease of the Young’s Modulus from 335 MPa to 157 MPa and an increase in the dielectric constant from approximately 10 to 20 at 100 Hz, for P(VDF-TrFE) samples with 20% wt. of fullerene – C 60 . A pyroelectric coefficient of 20 μC/m 2 ·K was achieved with a 10% wt. fullerene – C 60 loading, while maintaining a piezoelectric response of 15 pC/N. Further, under laser irradiation and due to the photo-pyroelectric response, the composite with 10% wt. fullerene – C 60 content reaches a generated voltage of 400 mV across a temperature variation of 1.4 °C, proving the multifunctionality of the materials and their applicability in applications including infrared detectors, thermometers, or energy harvesting, among others. A new photo-pyroelectric effect in a piezoelectric composite composed of Fullerene-C60 and the ferroelectric polymer P (VDF-TrFE) is presented. The material allows to directly produce an electric signal from light absorption through to this phenomenon, which offers a novel mechanism for optoelectronic energy conversion. Further, the material maintains its piezoelectric response, allowing for multifunctional mechano-electric, pyro-electric and photo-pyroelectric response. The photo-pyroelectric effect is enabled and improved by the polymer and fullerene's synergistic interaction, which is a crucial step in the development of high sensitive flexible photonic devices. • Photo-pyroelectric effect was demonstrated in piezoelectric and pyroelectric polymer composites of P(VDF-TrFE) with fullerene. • The influence of fullerene content on P(VDF-TrFE) was evaluated. • The mechanical, dielectric and piezoelectric properties are affected by the fullerene content. • A maximum pyroelectric coefficient of 20 μC/m 2 ·K was achieved with a 10% wt. fullerene – C60. • These composites are suitable for advanced applications with a generated voltage of 400 mV across a temperature variation of 1.4 °C.
SILVA et al. (Sun,) studied this question.