Transparent and Extremely Stretchable Piezoelectric Device for Sensors and Energy Harvesters.

Journal: ACS applied materials & interfaces
Published Date: May 28, 2025

Abstract

Piezoelectric devices have garnered significant interests due to their dual functionality as both sensors and energy harvesters, as well as the rapid development in Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). However, the fabrication of stretchable and transparent piezoelectric devices remains a great challenge, largely due to the inherent crystalline nature of piezoelectric materials and electrodes. In this work, for the first time, we report the fabrication of a highly transparent and stretchable piezoelectric device based entirely on polyurethane-urea (PUU) elastomers/composites. Specifically, nano ZnO hybrid hydrophobic PUU serves as the elastic inner piezoelectric layer; conductive ionic liquid composite hydrophilic PUU forms the middle electrode layer; and hydrophobic PUU elastomer acts as the outer encapsulation layer. The obtained device exhibits exceptional stretchability (elongation at break >1000%) and excellent optical transparency (∼86%). It can generate distinct, stable, and reliable output signals for monitoring both small- and large-scale mechanical motions along with a mechanical energy output of 48 μW m at a pressure of 38.2 kPa, highlighting its outstanding sensing and energy harvesting capabilities. This work presents valuable new insights into the design and development of novel, reliable, transparent, and stretchable piezoelectric devices, paving the way for the new generation of flexible electronics.

Authors

  • Jian He
    School of Software Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China. Electronic address: jianhee@bjut.edu.cn.
  • Zihao Qian
    State-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymer Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Materials, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
  • Zhijun Hu
    Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province & Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering & Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
  • Mingyu Guo
    State-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymer Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Materials, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.

Keywords

No keywords available for this article.

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals