Electrical, mechanical, and energy harvesting of a pyroelectric polymer nanocomposite

Abstract

Flexible pyroelectric devices can convert waste heat from the human body, sun, industry, geothermal, and automobiles into renewable electricity. In this paper, carbon nanofiber (CNF) and poly(2-acrylamide-2-methyl-1-propane-sulfonic acid) and PAMPS attached poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) pyroelectric polymer nanocomposite (PyPNC) were investigated for electrical, mechanical, and pyroelectric performance with temperature variations. The ac conductivity and open circuit voltage of PyPNC increased with temperature. The PyPNC showed the enhanced AC conductivity (σac) of 89 S/cm and open circuit output voltage of 4.8 V at 120 °C due to the alignment of CNF with PAMPS beads that enhanced the volume fraction of the β-phase in PyPNC at 120 °C than that of the random orientation of CNF with PAMPS beads of PyPNC at 20 °C, 50 °C, and 150 °C. © 2023 Korean Physical Society