Studies on PVDF/ferrite composite films on flexible substrates for pyroelectric energy conversion

Abstract

Research on the development of green and renewable energy sources is becoming more important due to the increasing energy consumption. Various common physical effects can be used to produce generators for gathering energy from the surrounding environment. The uses of these devices for the growing Internet of Things can be significantly improved by adding flexibility. In this study, the improved pyroelectric figures of merit and pyroelectric coefficients of polymer-based flexible multiferroic composite films with two different ferrites are reported. With varying weight percentages of ferrite compositions, PVDF/manganese ferrite and PVDF/nickel ferrite composite films were prepared using the spin coating technique. The enhanced electroactive β-phase was observed, using hysteresis loops and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, in the composite films with 5 and 10 weight percentages of manganese ferrite and nickel ferrite, respectively. The dielectric permittivity and magnetization values of the films increased with the increasing weight percentage of ferrite. The pyroelectric current measurements revealed a maximum pyroelectric energy conversion figure of merit values of 8.67% and 12.19% on the PVDF/manganese ferrite and PVDF/nickel ferrite composite films with 5 wt% of MnFe₂O₄ content and 10 wt% NiFe₂O₄ content, respectively.