On the basis of a vertically aligned ultralong Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PZT) nanowire array fabricated using electrospinning nanofibers, we developed a new type of integrated nanogenerator (NG) with ultrahigh output voltage of 209 V and current density of 23.5 μA/cm 2 , which are 3.6 times and 2.9 times of the previous record values, respectively. The output electricity can be directly used to stimulate the frog's sciatic nerve and to induce a contraction of a frog's gastrocnemius. The NG can instantaneously power a commercial light-emitting diode (LED) without the energy storage process. KEYWORDS: Nanogenerator, high output, energy harvesting, PZT nanowires, electrospinning H arvesting clean and renewable energy from the environment is an effective method to response the current energy crisis and power wide distributed nano/microdevices. As a novel energy collector, nanogenerator (NG) exhibits a number of features not shared by the traditional generators, that is, the ones based on ocean tide, river falls, and wind, etc. NG fabricated with piezoelectric nanomaterials can convert tiny and irregular environmental mechanical energy to electricity from sources such as air flowing, heart beating, and so on, which are more popular in our living environment compared to the energy source used for traditional generators as mentioned above.1 Moreover, due to its small size the NG can be effectively integrated with the nano/microscale functional devices to form a self-powered system, which has potential applications in the internet of things, national security, biomedical, and industry areas. In order to improve its output, many attempts have been made ranging from altering piezoelectric materials, that is, ZnO, 14 and so on. Among these systems, many of them need an energy storage unit to make them work properly. This energy storage circuit adds much complexity to the self-powered system and hinders its capacity to work in different tough environments. Here, we report a simple approach of fabricating vertically ultralong Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PZT) nanowire arrays from electrospinning fibers to make a high output NG. Benefiting from the ultralong length of vertical nanowires, the fabricated NG has a maximum output peak voltage of 209 V, which is much higher than the past record of 58 V.2 Also, the NG can output a maximum peak current of 53 μA and current density of 23.5 μA/cm 2 , which is 2.9 times of the recent highest value of 8.13 μA/cm 2 . 15 The output power of our NG can be directly used to stimulate the frog's sciatic nerve and induce a contraction of that frog's gastrocnemius. Moreover, the NG can power a commercial light-emitting diode (LED) instantly without energy storage, which is a considerable progress for the development of selfpowered devices.Previous studies have shown that high piezoelectric coefficient of the fabricating material and integrated parallel and serial connection designs are two major factors to effectively increase NG's output. So, we use PZT, which possesses the highest piezo...
Charge density is one of the most important parameters of triboelectric nanogenerators since it directly determines performance; unfortunately, it is largely restricted by the phenomenon of air breakdown. Here, we design a self-improving triboelectric nanogenerator with improved charge density. A maximum effective charge density of 490 μC m−2 is obtained, which is about two times higher than the highest reported charge density of a triboelectric nanogenerator that operates in an air environment. At the beginning of the working process, the charge accumulation speed is increased 5.8 times in comparison with a triboelectric nanogenerator that is incorporated into the self-improving device. The self-improving triboelectric nanogenerator overcomes the restriction of air breakdown and exhibits an increased effective charge density, which contributes to the improvement of the output performance, and the increase of charge accumulation speed will accelerate the increase of the output power at the start of operation.
WO3 is an effective anode buffer layer to substitute PEDOT:PSS in both organic light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, the vacuum deposition of the WO3 layer is not compatible with low-cost solution-processing technology for the roll-to-roll fabrication of PSCs. Here, we report, for the first time, a solution-processed WO3 (s-WO3) anode buffer layer that was prepared by spin-coating tungsten(VI) isopropoxide solution on an ITO electrode and then thermal annealing at 150 °C for 10 min in air, for the application in PSCs. The s-WO3 layer shows a high hole mobility of 9.4 × 10–3 cm2/V·s and high light transmittance. The photovoltaic performance of the buffer layer was investigated by fabricating the PSCs based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a donor and (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM), (6,6)-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM), indene-C60 bisadduct (IC60BA), or indene-C70 bisadduct (IC70BA) as an acceptor. The PSCs with the s-WO3 anode buffer layer show enhanced photovoltaic performance in comparison with the devices with PEDOT:PSS as the anode buffer layer. The power conversion efficiency of the PSC based on P3HT/IC70BA with the s-WO3 anode buffer layer reached 6.36% under the illumination of AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm2. The results indicate that s-WO3 is a promising solution-processable anode buffer layer material for high-efficiency PSCs and for the fabrication of flexible PSCs.
This article demonstrates a significant broadband enhancement of light absorption and improvement of photon-generated-charge transfer in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells by incorporating plasmonic Au–Ag alloy popcorn-shaped nanoparticles (NPs).
Chemiresistive gas sensors with low power consumption, fast response, and reliable fabrication process for a specific target gas have been now created for many applications. They require both sensitive nanomaterials and an efficient substrate chip for heating and electrical addressing. Herein, a near room working temperature and fast response triethylamine (TEA) gas sensor has been fabricated successfully by designing gold (Au)-loaded ZnO/SnO2 core-shell nanorods. ZnO nanorods grew directly on Al2O3 flat electrodes with a cost-effective hydrothermal process. By employing pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and DC-sputtering methods, the construction of Au nanoparticle-loaded ZnO/SnO2 core/shell nanorod heterostructure is highly controllable and reproducible. In comparison with pristine ZnO, SnO2, and Au-loaded ZnO, SnO2 sensors, Au-ZnO/SnO2 nanorod sensors exhibit a remarkably high and fast response to TEA gas at working temperatures as low as 40 °C. The enhanced sensing property of the Au-ZnO/SnO2 sensor is also discussed with the semiconductor depletion layer model introduced by Au-SnO2 Schottky contact and ZnO/SnO2 N-N heterojunction.
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