Synergism of graphitic-carbon nitride and electrospinning on the physico-chemical characteristics and piezoelectric properties of flexible poly(vinylidene fluoride) based nanogenerator

Abstract

Herein, we investigated the piezoelectric performance of electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride)/graphitic carbon nitride (PVDF/g-C <inf>3</inf> N <inf>4</inf> ) nanocomposite fibers (PGN-X). Addition of g-C <inf>3</inf> N <inf>4</inf> nanosheets improved the spinnability of nanofibers and augmented the ?-phase content of PVDF. The synthesized PGN non-woven mats were flexible and easily deformable without disrupting the continuity of fibers. Upon the addition of g-C <inf>3</inf> N <inf>4</inf> , tensile strength and thermal stability of nanocomposite fibers improved significantly. A maximum voltage output of ~7.5 V was generated for PGN nanogenerator which is ~8 times more than that of PVDF nanogenerator. Also, the PGN-X nanogenerator generated current output of 0.23 ?A and a power density of 0.22 ?W/cm ?2 . Improved physico-chemical characteristics and piezoelectric performance of PGN nanogeneratoris promising and makes it suitable for portable electronic and wearable devices. © 2019, The Polymer Society, Taipei.