Shetty S.Mahendran A.Anandhan S.2021-05-052021-05-052020Soft Matter , Vol. 16 , 24 , p. 5679 - 5688https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sm00341ghttps://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/15330Herein, a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator composed of electrospun talc/PVDF [poly(vinylidene fluoride)] nanocomposite fabrics has been developed. These nanocomposite fabrics demonstrated enhanced mechanical and piezoelectric properties compared with pristine PVDF nanofabrics. In particular, nanocomposite fabrics with 0.50 wt% talc yielded 89.6% of polar β-phase in the PVDF matrix, thereby augmenting its piezoelectric response. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry conclusively affirmed the promotion of polar β-phase in the talc/PVDF nanocomposite fabrics. The 0.50 wt% talc/PVDF nanocomposite fabric based nanogenerator produced an open-circuit voltage and power density of 9.1 V and 1.12 μW cm-2, respectively, under repetitive finger tapping mode (under a load of 3.8 N). Furthermore, the nanogenerator was also subjected to frequency modulated-shaker mode, wherein an output voltage of 8.9 V was produced. Improved flexibility, mechanical robustness, and enhanced piezoelectric responsiveness of this nanogenerator could possibly pave the way for its use in portable self-powered devices. This journal is © 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.Article