PU/PZT composites for vibratory energy harvesting S. Touhtouh 1,2,3 • M. Rguiti 1,2 • C. Courtois 1,2 • F. Belhora 4,3 • A. Arbaoui 5 • S. Dastorg 1,2 • A. Rachek 6 • A. Hajjaji 3 Received: 13 January 2016 / Accepted: 11 March 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Piezoelectric composites of PU/PZT with 0–3 connectivity were prepared in the film form. Homogeneous dispersion of the ceramic PZT in polyurethane matrix has been obtained and has been verified by SEM analysis. Dielectric properties reveal that under an electrical field of 1000 V the remnant polarization increased from 1.9 to 4 lC/ cm -2 when the volume fraction of PZT increased from 50 to 80 %. Modeling and vibratory energy harvesting tests has been realized. At very low frequency and deforma- tion, and without application of any static electric field, 1.15 lW of power has been obtained. The results obtained in this work contribute to demonstrate the ability of the incorporation of PZT particles in the polymer matrix to improve the conversion efficiency of the vibratory energy into electrical energy for the development of l-generators. Keywords Composites Á Films Á Piezoelectric properties Á Vibratory energy harvesting This article is part of the Topical Collection on Advanced Materials for Photonics and Electronics. Guest Edited by Bouchta Sahraoui, Yahia Boughaleb, Kariem Arof, Anna Zawadzka. & S. Touhtouh samira.touhtouh@gmail.com 1 Univ Lille Nord de France, 59000 Lille, France 2 Laboratoire des Mate ´riaux Ce ´ramiques et Proce ´de ´s Associe ´s, UVHC, Z.I. du Champ de l’Abbesse, 59600 Maubeuge, France 3 Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Inge ´nieur Pour l’E ´ nergie, Ecole Nationale Des Sciences Applique ´es El Jadida, UCD, Route d’azzemour, Nationale No. 1, El Haouzia, 24000 El Jadida, Maroc 4 Laboratoire de Ge ´nie Electrique et Ferroe ´lectricite ´, INSA de Lyon, 8 rue de la Physique, 69100 Villeurbanne, France 5 Laboratoire de Physique de la Matie `re Condense ´e, UCD, 24000 El Jadida, Maroc 6 De ´partement de Ge ´nie des Proce ´de ´s Industriels, E ´ cole Nationale Supe ´rieure des Mines de Rabat, 10000 Rabat, Maroc 123 Opt Quant Electron (2016) 48:246 DOI 10.1007/s11082-016-0518-x