Abstract
The addition of piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) fillers into a flexible polymer matrix has emerged as potential piezocomposite materials that can be used for applications such as energy harvesters and pressure sensors. A simple approach for the fabrication of PDMS-ZnO piezoelectric nanocomposites based on two ZnO fillers: nanoparticles (NP) and nanoflowers (NF) is presented in this paper. The effect of the ZnO fillers’ geometry and size on the thermal, mechanical and piezoelectric properties is discussed. The sensors were fabricated in a sandwich-like structure using aluminium (Al) thin films as top and bottom electrodes. Piezocomposites at a concentration of 10% w/w showed good flexibility, generating a piezoelectric response under compression force. The NF piezocomposites showed the highest piezoelectric response compared to the NP piezocomposites due to their geometric connectivity. The piezoelectric compound NF generated 4.2 V while the NP generated 1.86 V under around 36 kPa pressure. The data also show that the generated voltage increases with increasing applied force regardless of the type of filler.
Highlights
Recent developments in the field of flexible electronics have increased the exploration of a new class of emerging materials such as piezocomposite materials [1,2,3]
The fabrication and characterisation PDMS-zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites show that the addition of the nanofillers did not constrain the flexibility and thermomechanical stability of the nanocomposites up to 5% wt which is favourable for the use of these materials in pressure sensors
It was found that there is a correlation between the filler concentration and the piezoelectric response from the PDMS-ZnO nanocomposites, a higher concentration than 5% wt is required in order to obtain a piezoelectric response
Summary
Recent developments in the field of flexible electronics have increased the exploration of a new class of emerging materials such as piezocomposite materials [1,2,3]. The fabrication of piezocomposite materials has an increasing interest due to the combination of two materials with different properties such as the mechanical flexibility provided by the polymer and the piezoelectricity given by the fillers involved. These materials are generally fabricated using a low-cost and simple process under low temperatures with enhanced properties that can be tailored towards specific applications [4]. The integration of ZnO fillers into PDMS has been reported to generate a piezoelectric response, being biocompatible and environmentally friendly, making them non-toxic and safe to be disposed of in a landfill after use [3,19,20,21,22].
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