Abstract

The polymer crystallization process, promoting the formation of ferroelectric β-phase, is essential for developing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based high-performance piezoelectric energy harvesters. However, traditional high-temperature annealing is unsuitable for the manufacture of flexible piezoelectric devices due to the thermal damage to plastic components that occurs during the long processing times. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of introducing a flash lamp annealing that can rapidly induce the β-phase in the PVDF layer while avoiding device damage through selective heating. The flash lightirradiated PVDF films achieved a maximum β-phase content of 76.52% under an applied voltage of 300 V and an on-time of 1.5 ms, a higher fraction than that obtained through thermal annealing. The PVDF-based piezoelectric energy harvester with the optimized irradiation condition generates a stable output voltage of 0.23 V and a current of 102 nA under repeated bendings. These results demonstrate that flash lamp annealing can be an effective process for realizing the mass production of PVDF-based flexible electronics.

• Keywords: Piezoelectric, PVDF, Flash lamp annealing, Energy harvester