Because collagen is inherently piezoelectric, research is being actively conducted to utilize it to harvest energy. In this study, a collagen solution was prepared using edible low-molecular-weight peptide collagen powder, and collagen films were fabricated using a dip coating method. The collagen films prepared by dip coating showed a smooth surface without defects such as pinholes or cracks. Dehydrothermal treatment of the collagen films was performed to induce a stable molecular structure through cross-linking. The collagen film subjected to dehydrothermal treatment at 110 °C for 24 h showed a thickness reduction rate of 19 %. Analysis of the collagen films showed that the crystallinity of the collagen film improved by about 7.9 % after dehydrothermal treatment. A collagen film-based piezoelectric nanogenerator showed output characteristics of approximately 13.7 V and 1.4 μA in a pressure test of 120 N. The generator showed a maximum power density of about 2.91 mW/m2 and an output voltage of about 8~19 V during various human body movements such as finger tapping. The collagen film-based piezoelectric generator showed improved output performance with improved crystallinity and piezoelectricity after dehydrothermal treatment.

K0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (KBT) thin films were prepared by sol-gel processing for future use in piezoelectric generators. It is believed that the annealing temperature of films plays an important role in the output performance of piezoelectric generators. KBT films prepared on Ni substrates were annealed at 500 ~ 700 oC. Tetragonal KBT films were formed after annealing process. As the annealing temperature increased, the grain size of KBT films increased. KBT thin films show piezoelectric constant (d33) from 23 to 41 pC/N. The increase of grain size in KBT films brought about output voltage and current in the KBT generators. Also, the increase in the displacement of specimens during bending test resulted in increases in output voltage and current. Although KBT generators showed lower output power than those of generators prepared using NBT films, as reported previously, the KBT films prepared by sol-gel method show applicability as piezoelectric thin films for lead-free nanogenerators, along with NBT films.