Energy harvesting performance of a novel polymer-nanocrystal composite of P(VDF-TrFE)/ZnO QD films

Novel PVDF-TrFE/ZnO quantum dot (QD) nanocomposite films stabilized with organic ligands (TEA) were fabricated using a spin-coating technique by varying the filler composition in the range of; 0, 0.15, 0.25, 0.35 and 0.50 % by weight with a thickness of 200-300 nm. The analysis of the particle size using UV-Vis, XRD and TEM confirmed that the QD size was in the range of 2-3.5 nm. The incorporation of 0.15 wt% ZnO QDs into the P (VDF-TrFE) copolymer exhibited the highest dielectric constant (epsilon' = 13.9), remnant polarization (P-r = 10.02 mu C/cm(2)) and pyroelectric coefficient (49 mu C/m(2)K). The micelle-like crystallites and the elongated rod-like crystallites have achieved their optimum growth for the 0.15 wt% polymer nanocomposite. The maximum en-ergy storage density, U-e calculated at 100 Hz is 1.18 Jcm(-3) and the highest energy harvesting performance at 1 kHz, F-E, is 19.5 J m(-3)K(2) obtained from the 0.15 wt% P(VDF-TrFE)/ZnO QD polymer nanocomposite.