Simulation analysis of transient piezoelectric properties of PvDF structure for energy conversion applications

Rapid development of wireless sensor networks and portable electronic devices calls for solutions to self-powered micro-systems. In this work, two models based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PvDF) structure which convert mechanical energy into electric energy is studied via COMSOL Multi-physics simulation. A series of time-dependent transient analyses are conducted and it is observed that strains and output voltages generally follow the changes of applied stresses when the frequency of the applied stress is at 1 Hz. With a fixed frequency, output voltage and short circuit current increase with applied strain and with a fixed strain, the current increase with the frequency while the output voltage remains relatively stable. The theoretical energy conversion coefficient is 14.39% for the cantilever model and 13.23% for the membrane model, which is higher than results of practical experiments.