Investigation of Piezoelectret Properties of 3D Printed Foamed Polylactic Acid for Energy Conversion Applications

In this work we present an investigation on a low cost and eco-friendly foamed electroactive material easily fabricated via 3D printing. The polymer cellular microstructure is developed during printing and the foaming degree can be tuned by varying the nozzle extrusion temperature and flow speed. The samples are polarized using a corona discharge setup on a heated build plate at 85°C. We explore the possibility of obtaining thermally-treated samples that can maintain long external and internal charges, making them promising candidate for biosensors and micro energy-harvesters.