Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from a Ferroelectric Hybrid Salt [Ph₃ MeP]₄ [Ni(NCS)₆ ] Embedded in a Polymer Matrix

Organic-inorganic hybrid ferroelectrics are an exciting class of molecular materials with promising applications in the area of energy and electronics. The synthesis, ferroelectric and piezoelectric energy harvesting behavior of a 3d metal ion-containing A₄ BX₆ type organic-inorganic hybrid salt [Ph₃ MeP]₄ [Ni(NCS)₆ ] (1) is now presented. P-E hysteresis loop studies on 1 show a remnant ferroelectric polarization value of 18.71 μC cm^-2 , at room temperature. Composite thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) devices with 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt % compositions of 1 were prepared and employed for piezoelectric energy harvesting studies. A maximum output voltage of 19.29 V and a calculated power density value of 2.51 mW cm^-3 were observed for the 15 wt % 1-TPU device. The capacitor charging experiments on the 15 wt % 1-TPU composite device shows an excellent energy storage performance with the highest stored energies and measured charges of 198.8 μJ and 600 μC, respectively.