Energy harvesting from nanofibers of hybrid organic ferroelectric dabcoHReO(4)

We report excellent piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties of electrospun nanofibers based on the hybrid ferroelectric 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane perrhenate (dabcoHReO(4)). Ferroelectric nanoparticles are embedded into the fibers being naturally aligned with the major polarization component along the fiber axis. A flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator consisting of an aligned array of dabcoHReO(4) fibers provides a voltage above 100 mV under a moderate strain level. The pyroelectric coefficient in as-electrospun dabcoHReO(4) fiber mat is similar to that in poled polyvinylidene difluoride nanofibers. The results show that the nanofibers based on dabcoHReO(4) have a great potential for pyroelectric and piezoelectric autonomous energy harvesting with natural advantages such as biocompatibility, flexibility, low cost, and easy fabrication. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.