The fast expanding field of wearable technology requires light-weight, low-cost, scalable, flexible and efficient energy harvesters as a source of uninterrupted green power. This work reports fabrication of sub-micron graphite platelet/PVDF composite film-based flexible piezoelectric energy harvester (PGEH) for scavenging the wasted mechanical energy associated with human body motion. The addition of graphite platelet leads to the enhancement of electroactive β phase in PVDF; consequently, the piezoelectric and dielectric properties of the composite are enhanced. 0.5 wt% filler-loaded composite has 96% β phase fraction and dielectric constant 32 at 100 Hz (tanδ = 0.18).The PGEH produces open circuit voltage of 40 V and instantaneous power density of 3.35 mW cm− 3 with energy conversion efficiency of 22.5% under periodic finger tapping. It can generate fair electrical output under gentle heel (0.8 V) and toe movements (1.2 V). A PGEH is directly employed for powering 50 commercial LEDs and quick charging of a 2.2-μF capacitor upto 19.2 V. The device is also employed as self-powered dynamic pressure sensor which shows high sensitivity (0.9 VkPa− 1) with fast response time (1 ms). Therefore, this durable, flexible, efficient PGEH can have promising applications in wearable electronics as a green power source cum self-powered mechanosensor.

Submicron graphite platelet-incorporated PVDF composite: an efficient body motion-based energy harvester for flexible electronics
    Abstract
    1 Introduction
    2 Results and discussion
    3 Conclusion
    Anchor 6
    Acknowledgements 
    References

• Epsita Kar(Functional Materials and Devices Division, CSIRCentral Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032, India)
• Navonil Bose(Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032, India)
• Sukhen Das(Department of Physics, Jadavpur University, Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032, India)