Recent advances in ubiquitous low-power electronics call for the development of light-weight and flexible energy sources. The textile format is highly attractive for unobtrusive harvesting of energy from e.g., biomechanical movements. Here, we report the manufacture and characterisation of fully textile piezoelectric generators that can operate under wet conditions. We use a weaving loom to realise textile bands with yarns of melt-spun piezoelectric microfibres, that consist of a conducting core surrounded by β-phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), in the warp direction. The core-sheath constitution of the piezoelectric microfibres results in a—for electronic textiles—unique architecture. The inner electrode is fully shielded from the outer electrode (made up of conducting yarns that are integrated in the weft direction) which prevents shorting under wet conditions. As a result, and in contrast to other energy harvesting textiles, we are able to demonstrate piezoelectric fabrics that do not only continue to function when in contact with water, but show enhanced performance. The piezoelectric bands generate an output of several volts at strains below one percent. We show that integration into the shoulder strap of a laptop case permits the continuous generation of four microwatts of power during a brisk walk. This promising performance, combined with the fact that our solution uses scalable materials and well-established industrial manufacturing methods, opens up the possibility to develop wearable electronics that are powered by piezoelectric textiles.

普遍存在的低功耗电子技术的最新进展要求开发轻便灵活的能源。纺织形式对于例如生物机械运动的能量的无阻碍的采集是非常有吸引力的。在这里，我们报告了可以在潮湿条件下运行的全纺织压电发电机的制造和特性。我们使用织布机来实现由熔融纺制的压电微纤维纱线制成的纺织带，该纱线由在传导方向上被β相聚偏二氟乙烯（PVDF）包围的导电芯组成。压电微纤维的芯鞘结构导致了（对于电子纺织品而言）独特的结构。内部电极与外部电极（由在纬线方向上集成的导电纱线组成）完全屏蔽，这可以防止在潮湿条件下发生短路。结果，与其他能量收集纺织品相比，我们能够证明压电织物不仅在与水接触时仍能继续发挥作用，而且表现出增强的性能。压电带以低于1％的应变产生几伏的输出。我们证明，集成到笔记本电脑外壳的肩带中可以使轻快行走过程中连续产生四微瓦的功率。这种令人鼓舞的性能，再加上我们的解决方案使用可扩展的材料和完善的工业制造方法，