A hybrid energy harvester that consisted of thermoelectric (TE) composite film and electrospun piezoelectric (PE) polymeric membranes was constructed. TE composites were fabricated by dispersing inorganic TE powders inside polyvinylidene fluoride elastomer using a drop-casting technique. The polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene, which was chosen due to its excellent chemical resistance, mechanical stability, and biocompatibility, was electrospun onto an aluminum foil to fabricate the ultra-flexible PE membranes. To create a hybrid energy harvester that can simultaneously convert heat and mechanical energy resources into electricity, the TE composite films attached to the PE membrane were encapsulated with protective polydimethylsiloxane. The fabricated energy harvester converted the outputs with a maximum voltage of 4 V (PE performance) and current signals of 0.2 μA (TE performance) under periodical heat input and mechanical bending in hybrid modes. This study demonstrates the potential of the hybrid energy harvester for powering flexible and wearable electronics, offering a sustainable and reliable power source.
Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are promising materials for the construction of energy devices, particularly organic solar cells. In the electrospinning process, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) has been utilized to generate nanofibers, which is the simplest and most popular method of creating carbon nanofibers (CNFs) followed by carbonization. The CNFs are coated on stainless steel (SS) plates and involve an electropolymerization process. The prepared Cu, CNF, CNF–Cu, PANI, PANI–Cu, CNF–PANI, and CNF–PANI–Cu electrode materials’ electrical conductivity was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte solution. Compared to others, the CNF–PANI–Cu electrode has higher conductivity that range is 3.0 mA. Moreover, the PANI, CNF–PANI, and CNF–PANI–Cu are coated on FTO plates and characterized for their optical properties (absorbance, transmittance, and emission) and electrical properties (CV and Impedance) for organic solar cell application. The functional groups, and morphology-average roughness of the electrode materials found by FT–IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, and TGA exhibit a strong correlation with each other. Finally, the electrode materials that have been characterized serve to support and act as the nature of the hole transport for organic solar cells.
화석연료의 사용에 따른 지구 온난화 및 기상 이변으로 인하여 온실가스 저감 문제가 대두되고 있으며, 그에 따 라 에너지 소모 없이 셀프 쿨링이 가능한 소재에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 그 중에서도 실크는 천연 쿨링 소재로 알려져 있으나, 기존의 혼합 공정에서는 실크를 화학적으로 분말화 시키기 때문에 복사 냉각 효과가 사라지는 문제점이 있어, 복사냉각을 위한 필름 또는 코팅제 형태로 제조하는데 어려움을 겪고 있다. 본 연구에서는 실크 피브로인의 고유구조를 훼손 하지 않는 물리적 분쇄 공정을 거친 실크 분말을 사용하여 다양한 형태의 막을 제조하고, 코팅제로서의 적용가능성을 살펴보 고자 연구를 수행하였다. 이를 위해 실크 피브로인 분말이 도입된 전기방사 복합막 및 평막 형태의 복합막을 제조하였으며, 용액의 점도가 막 제조 및 제조된 막의 물성에 큰 영향을 미치는 것을 관찰하였다.
Energy storage systems should address issues such as power fluctuations and rapid charge-discharge; to meet this requirement, CoFe2O4 (CFO) spinel nanoparticles with a suitable electrical conductivity and various redox states are synthesized and used as electrode materials for supercapacitors. In particular, CFO electrodes combined with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) can provide long-term cycling stability by fabricating binder-free three-dimensional electrodes. In this study, CFO-decorated CNFs are prepared by electrospinning and a low-cost hydrothermal method. The effects of heat treatment, such as the activation of CNFs (ACNFs) and calcination of CFO-decorated CNFs (C-CFO/ACNFs), are investigated. The C-CFO/ACNF electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 142.9 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s and superior rate capability of 77.6% capacitance retention at a high scan rate of 500 mV/s. This electrode also achieves the lowest charge transfer resistance of 0.0063 Ω and excellent cycling stability (93.5% retention after 5,000 cycles) because of the improved ion conductivity by pathway formation and structural stability. The results of our work are expected to open a new route for manufacturing hybrid capacitor electrodes containing the C-CFO/ACNF electrode that can be easily prepared with a low-cost and simple process with enhanced electrochemical performance.
This study produces electroconductive polycaprolactone (PCL)-based film with different amounts of graphene (G) through electrospinning, and the characteristics of the produced G/PCL composites are investigated. The G/PCL results are analyzed by comparing them with those obtained using pure PCL electrospun film as a control. The morphology of electrospun material is analyzed through scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Mechanical and electrical properties are also evaluated. Composites containing 1% graphene have the highest elongation rate, and 5% samples have the highest strength and elasticity. Graphene contents > 25% show electro-conductivity, which level improves with increase of graphene content. Biological characteristics of G/PCL composites are assessed through behavioral analysis of neural cell attachment and proliferation. Cell experiments reveal that compositions < 50% show slightly reduced cell viability. Moreover, graphene combinations facilitated cell proliferation compared to pure PCL. These results confirm that a 25 % G/PCL composition is best for application to systems that introduce external stimuli such as electric fields and electrodes to lead to synergistic efficiency of tissue regeneration.