Fabrication of a ZnO nanogenerator for eco-friendly biomechanical energy harvesting

Abstract

We present a new device structure for effective energy harvesting from human body movement using a ZnO nanogenerator. This is the first report on both piezoelectric and triboelectric effects in the same device. The fabricated device structure consists of a double-sided ZnO nanowire array sandwiched between gold coated ZnO nanowire arrays using polydimethylsiloxane. The peak open circuit voltage (V oc ) and short circuit current (I sc ) were recorded as 30 V and 300 nA respectively with power density of 0.390 mW cm 22 , when folding/bending the nanogenerator with the fingers. The ZnO nanogenerator was effectively utilized to harvest biomechanical energy from human body movements like stretching, folding, and pressing. The power density of fabricated nanogenerator was 9.49, 8.19 and 115 nW cm 22 by stretching, folding and pressing the fingers, respectively. The acquired output was used to drive a commercial light emitting diode. The generated output is combination of the piezoelectric effect from ZnO nanowire and the triboelectric effect from polydimethylsiloxane. This feasibility study substantiates human body movement as a source for energy harvesting. The energy generated by human activities (body movement) was sufficient to operate low power wearable electronic devices.

The influence of hydrogen bonding on the dielectric constant and the piezoelectric energy harvesting performance of hydrated metal salt mediated PVDF films

“…[1][2][3][4] Taking the forms of irregular air flow/vibration, ultrasonic waves, body movement, and hydraulic pressure, mechanical energy is ubiquitously available in our living environment. [1][2][3][4] Taking the forms of irregular air flow/vibration, ultrasonic waves, body movement, and hydraulic pressure, mechanical energy is ubiquitously available in our living environment.…”

Piezoelectric-Driven Self-Charging Supercapacitor Power Cell

“…[5][6][7][8] Among the conversion methods, nanogenerator is an effective device tool to harvest the low frequency mechanical energy through piezoelectric and tribo-electrification processes. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] On the other hand, the electrochemical capacitors (ECs) or supercapacitors are considered to be one of the most important next-generation energy storage devices, mainly due to their high power density, fast charge-discharge rates and long life times than rechargeable batteries and conventional dielectric capacitors. [16][17][18][19] Such a device can be used as a primary power storage source or auxiliary power storage source with rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles and other electronic devices for the purpose of power enhancement.…”

Fabrication of an eco-friendly composite nanogenerator for self-powered photosensor applications

“…These studies shown such energy sources to successfully power liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), implantable biosensors, and many portable personal electronic devices [10]. Various nanostructured materials, such as ZnO [11][12][13], GaN [14], lead zirconium titanate (PZT) [15,16], BaTiO 3 (BTO) [17], NaNbO 3 [18], (1-x)Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -xPbTiO 3 (PMN-PT) [19], ZnSnO 3 [20], polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) [9], and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) [21] have been widely used for nanogenerator fabrication in a variety of forms, such as micro/nanowires, nanobelts and particles. Among them, ZnO is lead-free, biocompatible and has piezo and semiconducting properties [22,23]; its noncentrosymmetric nature has proven to be advantageous for nanogenerator applications.…”