Piezoelectric property improvement of polyethylene ferroelectrets using postprocessing thermal‐pressure treatment

In this work, biaxially stretched polymer foams with well‐defined cellular structures were prepared from polyethylene via blown‐film extrusion and subjected to corona charging to produce a piezoelectric response. The charging parameters were first optimized in terms of charging voltage and needle distance, as well as the gas type and pressure to investigate their effect on the piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃). The results show that samples charged under nitrogen (N₂) at 100 kPa had better d₃₃ coefficient than those charged under ambient air or N₂ at 20 kPa. Moreover, 2 different thermal pressure treatments were imposed to obtain an optimized eye‐like cellular structure with different cell aspect ratios (AR). The results showed that when the cells were elongated in both the longitudinal and transverse directions (higher AR), higher d₃₃ coefficients were achieved. From all the samples produced, the best results were obtained for a longitudinal aspect ratio (AR‐L) of 7.1, a transversal aspect ratio (AR‐T) of 4.6, and a relative foam density of 0.52 leading to a d₃₃ coefficient of 935 pC/N. This coefficient was further increased using reverse charging and multilayered films, reaching a maximum of 2550 pC/N. This value is much higher than typical ones reported so far for any polyethylene and polypropylene ferroelectrets. These results could increase the use of polyethylene in piezoelectric applications as these materials are very attractive for the large‐scale production of electret‐based sensors and transducers due to their low cost and easy processing.     

Stacked and folded piezoelectrets for vibration-based energy harvesting

ABSTRACT

Vibration-based energy harvesting with piezoelectrets can be significantly improved by using multiple layers of these materials. In particular, folding or stacking of piezoelectrets or a combination of these methods results in increased power output of the energy harvesters. The possibilities of these procedures are explored, together with the effect of seismic mass, resonance frequency, and terminating resistance. It is found that with seismic masses of about 20 g and using radiation-crosslinked polypropylene (IXPP) as a piezoelectret, power outputs of up to 80 µW can be achieved for an acceleration of 1 g. Expected dependencies of generated power on frequency, folding and stacking parameters, in particular number of layers, and on seismic mass, are confirmed.