Self-poled and transparent polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene-based piezoelectric devices for printable and flexible electronics

Transparent and flexible energy supply devices are becoming increasingly important for human interfaces as the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow. In this study, self-poled and transparent piezoelectric nanogenerators (ST-PENGs) based on 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFOES) and polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) composite films were prepared via extrusion printing, where PFOES induces the transformation of PVDF-HFP chains, exhibiting a higher β-phase content and remarkable piezoelectric properties. The hydrogen bonding interaction between the PVDF-HFP matrix and the PFOES agents causes a clear transition from phase to phase, as evidenced by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results. Moreover, the PFOES content influences the β-phase content, with 10 wt% of PFOES enabling the induction of the β-phase content up to 82.7%. The proposed ST-PENGs generate an excellent output voltage, power, and sensitivity of ∼6.2 V, ∼6.9 μW cm⁻², and ∼131.3 mV N⁻¹, respectively, exhibiting a record-high improvement compared with previously reported PENGs. These ST-PENGs also offer significant promise in tracking human activity and recovering biomechanical energy. This study may provide insight into the development of transparent and flexible piezoelectric devices to achieve high-performance self-powered electronics.