Integrated piezoelectric cantilever transducer driven by self-oscillating polymer gel

In this work, we developed a piezoelectric cantilever energy transducer integrated with a self-oscillating polymer gel (NPC-Rux). The gel features a dual-crosslinked network—combining physical crosslinker (Laponite XLG) and chemical crosslinker (N,N′-Methylene diacrylamide (MBA)) - for improved structural stability. Grafting with hydrophilic 2-Hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) enhanced its swelling capacity in the oxidized state, enabling a large volume oscillation amplitude of up to 64 μm during the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction (B-Z reaction). A flush-type coupling structure was designed to directly transfer the gel's deformation to a Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric cantilever. This configuration achieved a voltage output between 0.17 V and 0.23 V under mechanical stresses from 6.64 × 10 −3  N to 11.54 × 10 −3  N, establishing an effective chemo-mechano-electrical energy conversion pathway. The system enables real-time monitoring of both gel volume changes and electrical signals, offering promising applications in self-powered sensors and adaptive soft robotics.