Boosted Mechanical Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting of Polyvinylidene Fluoride/Barium Titanate Composite Porous Foam Based on Three-Dimensional Printing and Foaming Technology

Abstract

The popularity of intelligent and green electronic devices means that the use of renewable mechanical energy has gradually become an inevitable choice for social development. However, it is difficult for the existing energy harvesters to meet the requirement for efficient collection of discrete mechanical energy due to the limitation of traditional two-dimensional (2D) film deformation. In this research, a green and convenient supercritical carbon dioxide foaming (Sc-CO2)-assisted selective laser sintering method was developed, and piezoelectric energy harvesters with a 3D porous structure of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/barium titanate (BaTiO3) were successfully constructed. The 3D structure combined with the porous structure made full use of the normal space, amplified the stress-strain effect, and improved the piezoelectric output capability. Under the synergistic effect of BaTiO3, the foams exhibited high output with an output voltage of 20.9 V and a current density of 0.371 nA/mm2, which exceeded most of the known PVDF/BaTiO3 energy harvesters, and the prepared piezoelectric energy harvester could directly light up 11 green light-emitting diodes and charge a 1 μF commercial capacitor to 4.98 V within 180 s. This work emphasizes the key role of 3D printing and Sc-CO2 foaming in fabricating 3D piezoelectric energy harvesters.