Piezoelectric composite films which are enabled by inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials-embedded polymer, have attracted enormous attention as a sustainable power source for low powered electronics, because of their ease of fabrication and flexible nature. However, the absorption of applied stress by the soft polymeric matrices is a major issue that must be solved to expand the fields of piezoelectric composite applications. Herein, a flexible and porous piezoelectric composite (piezoelectric sponge) comprised of BaTiO3 nanoparticles and polydimethylsiloxane was developed using template method to enhance the energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the stress that vanishes into the polymer matrix. In the porous structure, effective stress transfer can occur between the piezoelectric active materials in compression mode due to direct contact between the ceramic particles embedded in the pore-polymer interface. The piezoelectric sponge with 30 wt% of BaTiO3 particles generated an open-circuit voltage of ~12 V and a short-circuit current of ~150 nA. A finite element method-based simulation was conducted to theoretically back up that the piezoelectric output performance was effectively improved by introducing the sponge structure. Furthermore, to demonstrate the feasibility of pressure detecting applications using the BaTiO3 particles-embedded piezoelectric sponge, the composite was arranged in a 3 × 3 array and integrated into a single pressure sensor. The fabricated sensor array successfully detected the shape of the applied pressure. This work can provide a cost-effective, biocompatible, and structural strategy for realizing piezoelectric composite-based energy harvesters and self-powered sensors with improved energy conversion efficiency

One-dimensional (1D) piezoelectric nanostructures are attractive candidates for energy generation because of their excellent piezoelectric properties attributed to their high aspect ratios and large surface areas. Vertically grown BaTiO3 nanotube (NT) arrays on conducting substrates are intensively studied because they can be easily synthesized with excellent uniformity and anisotropic orientation. In this study, we demonstrate the synthesis of 1D BaTiO3 NT arrays on a conductive Ti substrate by electrochemical anodization and sequential hydrothermal reactions. Subsequently, we explore the effect of hydrothermal reaction conditions on the piezoelectric energy conversion efficiency of the BaTiO3 NT arrays. Vertically aligned TiO2 NT arrays, which act as the initial template, are converted into BaTiO3 NT arrays using hydrothermal reaction with various concentrations of the Ba source and reaction times. To validate the electrical output performance of the BaTiO3 NT arrays, we measure the electricity generated from each NT array packaged with a conductive metal foil and epoxy under mechanical pushings. The generated output voltage signals from the BaTiO3 NT arrays increase with increasing concentration of the Ba source and reaction time. These results provide a new strategy for fabricating advanced 1D piezoelectric nanostructures by demonstrating the correlation between hydrothermal reaction conditions and piezoelectric output performance.