Enhanced piezoelectricity in lead-free halide perovskite nanocomposite for self-powered wireless electronics

Lately, lead-free flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) have drawn much attention because of the threat posed by lead (Pb)-based piezoelectric materials to the environment. Here, we reported an organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHP) PENG, which is a combination of lead-free formamidinium tin (Sn) halide perovskite (CH(NH2)2SnBr3 (FASnBr3)) nanoparticles (NPs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer matrix. By using piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) measurements, we unveil the excellent piezoelectric properties of the FASnBr3 NPs with a high piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33) of ~ 50 pm/V. Due to the outstanding flexibility and uniform distribution properties, the device demonstrated a maximum piezoelectric peak to peak output voltage of 94.5 Vp-p, peak to peak current of 19.1 μAp-p, and output power density of 18.95 μW/cm2 with a tiny force of 4.2 N; these characteristics substantially outperform a number of the state-of-the-art halide perovskite based PENGs (Table S1). Given their high electromechanical energy conversion efficiency, the electrical energy produced from the PENGs was used to power a Bluetooth-capable system on chip (SoC) to build an entirely self-powered radio frequency (RF) communication system. For the first time, we established a self-powered RF wireless communication between nanogenerator and smart electronic devices which is solely based on a lead-free PENG. It is anticipated that the fabricated FASnBr3 @PDMS nanocomposite PENG not only possesses outstanding performance and reliability but also serves as a stepping-stone towards achieving self-powered Internet of Things (IoT) devices built using environment-friendly perovskite piezoelectric materials.