Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Department of Textile Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Postal Code 1591634311, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) as a piezoelectric material, is widely used due to its desirable mechanical
properties. The combination of PVDF with polyurethane (PU) creates a polymer alloy with high elastic
properties that allows the tensile force to be applied to the polymer alloy and its reversibility after
force removal. This study aimed to generate the electric current from PVDF/PU polymer alloy without
direct pressure or impact, with the new method under cyclic tensile loading. The results showed that the
polymer alloy layer, under cyclic tensile loading, generates an electric current and the electric voltage
between 3 mV to 8 mV. The applied tensile force created a compressive force on the body of the layer.
PVDF created an electric current due to this compressive force. The fibers were aligned in the polymer
layers to improve energy harvesting. The electric current from the layers was measured and compared
before and after the fiber alignment. Fiber alignment was performed by increasing the rotation speed of
the collecting drum. The results showed that increasing the speed of the collecting roller by 10 times,
lead to an increase in the electric current generation by 27%.
Keywords
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