Flexible all-inorganic BiFeO3-based film with high piezoelectric coefficient for energy harvesting and sensing

With the development of new sensor technology, flexible piezoelectric materials possessing exceptional mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion capabilities hold great promise for application in a variety of sectors, including biomedicine, flexible robotics, and wearable electronic devices. This work reports the successful growth of an all-inorganic transparent Bi(Fe0.95Mn0.05)O-3 (BFOMn) film on the Mica substrate using a straightforward one-step sol-gel method. The prepared BFOMn thin film enables the optimum electrical properties with a saturated polarization of similar to 92 mu C/cm(2), a remanent polarization of similar to 74 mu C/cm(2), and a high piezoelectric constant d(33) of similar to 405 pm/V. Concurrently, the film exhibits exceptional adaptability without compromising its electrical performance, as evidenced by its capacity to undergo a tight curve with a radius of just 2 mm. Utilizing this BFOMn film, the fabricated flexible piezoelectric energy harvester (FPEH) has exceptional energy collecting capabilities, producing an output voltage of 15 V, a short current of 130 nA, and a notable force sensitivity of 4 V.N-1 before poling. It can also be employed to monitor human actions, such as hand hammering, hand clapping, and foot stepping. This work demonstrates the potential of the BiFeO3-based FPEH/sensor in the field of new intelligent electronics.