Flexible energy harvesting polymer composites based on biofibril-templated 3-dimensional interconnected piezoceramics

An interconnected 3D piezoceramic structure has been prepared using the biofibril-templated approach and the state-of-the-art piezoelectric ceramic of rare-earth-doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3. Both phase-field computations and experimental mechanics confirm the great improvement in the electromechanical properties of the polymer composites based on the biofibril-templated 3D piezoceramic fillers. The flexible 3D piezocomposite display a power density that is 16 times higher than that of the corresponding nanoparticle-based polymer piezocomposite.540