Improving Energy Harvesting Performance of the PVDF Films by adding Nano ZnO

The performance of PVDF pyroelectric films for electrical power production has been improved by adding very small amounts of nanostructured ZnO prepared by sol-gel method which is a cheap, simple, and easy method. The XRD spectrum of the prepared ZnO indicates that it is a nanostructure. Pyroelectric films are prepared from PVDF and different percentages of prepared nano ZnO. The Pyroelectric coefficient, Dielectric Constant, and Conductivity of prepared films are measured to be used as inputs for the mathematical model that is created to obtain the optimal percentage of added nano ZnO to PVDF, determine the optimal thickness of the pyroelectric film, and study the effect of the film surface area on energy harvesting performance. It is found that the addition of nano ZnO to PVDF pyroelectric film has two effects on energy harvesting: positive and negative. The positive effect is an increasing pyroelectric coefficient, but the negative effect is an increasing dielectric constant. So the optimal percentage of adding nano ZnO is defined. The optimal value of the thickness of PVDF film, which has an optimal added ZnO percentage, is determined. The reduced surface area of the pyroelectric film increases energy conversion efficiency.