Energy harvesting from ambient light using PVDF with highly conductive and transparent silver nanowire/PEDOT:PSS hybride electrodes

In this study, we investigate the conversion of light-induced thermal energy to electrical energy by exploiting the piezo- and pyroelectric effect of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Due to the transparency, high conductivity, surface coverage and a facile and scalable deposition process, spray-coated silver nanowire (AgNW) and PEDOT:PSS hybrid films are used as transparent top and bottom electrodes. By adding ethylene glycol, a high boiling point solvent, the conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS films is increased by 5 orders of magnitude, up to 1816 S/cm. For an illuminated area of 8 cm⁁2 and a temperature variation of 5.7 °C, the power output of the PVDF foil reaches 413 nW at a voltage of 4.3 V and a current of 96 nA. These values compare well to the state-of-the-art performance of pyroelectric harvesters based on PVDF. As a possible application, we propose the use of this material system for a self-powered light and temperature sensor node.