• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.487-494
• /
• 2021

Piezoelectric generators use direct piezoelectric effects that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Many studies were attempted to fabricate piezoelectric generators using piezoelectrics such as ZnO, PZT, PVDF. However, these various inorganic/organic piezoelectric materials are not suitable for bio-implantable devices due to problems such as brittleness, toxicity, bio-incompatibility, bio-degradation. Thus, in this paper, piezoelectric generators were prepared using a silk fibroin film which is bio-compatible by dip-coating method. The silk fibroin films are a mixed state of silk I and silk II having stable β-sheet type structures and shows the d₃₃ value of 8~10 pC/N. There was a difference in output voltages according to the thickness. The silk fibroin generators, coated 10 times and 20 times, revealed the power density of 16.07 μW/cm² and 35.31 μW/cm² using pushing tester, respectively. The silk fibroin generators are sensitive to various pressure levels, which may arise from body motions such as finger tapping, foot pressing, wrist shaking, etc. The silk fibroin piezoelectric generators with bio-compatibility shows the applicability as a low-power implantable piezoelectric generator, healthcare monitoring service, and biotherapy devices.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.31-36
• /
• 2010

A new material, carbon-nanofiber/polypyrrole (CNF/PPy) composite films, with different CNF weight ratios were fabricated electrochemically. Compared to the fabrication process based on simple physical mixing, the flexibility of the new film has been improved much better than the previous similar material. Pure PPy films were also fabricated by the new electrochemical process for the comparison of difference. Several SEM images were taken at two locations (electrode-side and solution-side) and at the cross section of the samples. Electrical conductivity of the composite films was measured by the four-probe method. The conductivity of the pure PPy film 0.013cm thick was 79.33S/cm. The CNF/PPy composite film with 5% CNF showed a conductivity of 93S/cm. One with 10% CNF showed a conductivity of 126 S/cm. The conductivity of PPy improves, as the CNF weight ratio increases. The good conductivity of CNF/PPy composites makes them a candidate for a small bending actuator. A bending sensor consists of PPy and PVDF, which can be operated in the air, was designed and the bending deflection was calculated using FEM.