Synthesis of nanogenerators via spin coating

NICOLE SEINHART; GALO SOLER LLIA; CINTIA BELÉN CONTRERAS

Buenos Aires

Congreso; WCCE11 - 11th WORLD CONGRESS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; 2023

Asociación Argentina de Ingenieros químicos

In times of natural disasters or isolation, it is necessary to have autonomous energy sources to allow establishing communications or the operation of electronic devices. For this reason, the use of piezoelectric nanogenerators that can produce energy from movement is being investigated [1]. As the basis of the nanogenerator, the synthesis of flexible thin films from a piezoelectric polymer is proposed. These types of materials are capable of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, since when subjected to mechanical stress they acquire an electrical polarization. The electrical properties of the polymer have a strong dependence on its crystalline symmetry and improve remarkably with the incorporation of nanoparticles (NPs) to the matrix since it favors the orientation of the β crystalline phase [2].Thin films of polyvinylidene fluoride, PVDF (piezoelectric polymer), were synthesized by the spin coating method, using solutions with different concentrations and mixtures of the solvents dimethyl sulfoxide, acetone and dimethylformamide. In addition, PVDF nanocomposite films with the addition of NPs (ZnO, TiO2 and Montmorillonit) were studied. In these systems, the NPs were added after the dissolution of the polymer. Therefore, thin films were obtained that were homogeneous in appearance and with good flexibility. Subsequently, the obtained films were characterized with FTIR (Figure 1), SAXS and DSC techniques. In them it was possible to observe the different crystalline phases of the polymer when changing the method of synthesis and its homogeneity.With the results obtained, it was possible to observe that the spin coating method favors the alignment of the polymer in the crystalline β phase. The choice of the solvent and the addition of the NPs are beneficial for said alignment. Seeing the importance of the alignment of the chains to obtain the β phase, the synthesis of films with 3D printing is currently under study.References1. Mishra, S., Unnikrishnan, L., Nayak, S. K. and Mohanty, S. (2019). Advances in Piezoelectric Polymer Composites for Energy Harvesting Applications: A Systematic Review. Macromol. Mater. Eng., 304, 1800463.2. Biswas, P., Hoque, N.A., Thakur, P., Saikh, Md. M., Roy, S., Khatun, F., Bagchi, B., and Das, S. (2019). Highly Efficient and Durable Piezoelectric Nanogenerator and Photo-power cell Based on CTAB Modified Montmorillonite Incorporated PVDF Film. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 7 (5), 4801-4813.