Piezoelectric Nanowires in Energy Harvesting Applications

Abstract

Recently, the nanogenerators which can convert the mechanical energy into electricity by using piezoelectric one-dimensional nanomaterials have exhibited great potential in microscale power supply and sensor systems. In this paper, we provided a comprehensive review of the research progress in the last eight years concerning the piezoelectric nanogenerators with different structures. The fundamental piezoelectric theory and typical piezoelectric materials are firstly reviewed. After that, the working mechanism, modeling, and structure design of piezoelectric nanogenerators were discussed. Then the recent progress of nanogenerators was reviewed in the structure point of views. Finally, we also discussed the potential application and future development of the piezoelectric nanogenerators.

Formation mechanisms of ZnO nanowires on polycrystalline Au seed layers for piezoelectric applications

“…Piezoelectric devices like piezoelectric nano-generators (PENGs) and sensors including zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have received an increasing interest over the last decade [1][2][3][4][5][6]. They benefit from the main advantages of ZnO as an abundant, biocompatible, wide band-gap semiconductor (3.3 eV at room temperature) with relatively high piezoelectric constants (e 33 =1.34 C/m −2 and e 31 =−0.57 C/m −2 ) [7].…”

Ferroelectric materials for vibrational energy harvesting

“…In the meantime, an amount of lead-free ferroelectric materials, via engineering by means of doping, forming solid solutions or microstructure tuning are being extensively explored as candidates to replace PZT in practical applications for the sake of environment. [14,[26][27][28]. Most of these candidate materials are lead-free piezoceramics, including BT, Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 TiO 3 (NBT), K 0.5 Na 0.5 NbO 3 (KNN) and their derivatives.…”

“…There has been much research effort dedicated to the development of piezoelectric energy harvesting including both materials and devices, and the progress in this field has been summarized in a number of review articles [1,2,13,14]. Recently, more and more attentions have been paid to the optimization of PEH devices towards high output power density, which requires not only proper selection of materials but also rational design of the device.…”

Enhanced Piezoelectric Behavior of PVDF Nanocomposite by AC Dielectrophoresis Alignment of ZnO Nanowires

“…In order to overcome this, a polymeric material such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which is flexible and environmentally friendly, was introduced [7,8]. However, ceramic fillers must be incorporated because piezoelectric polymers are not applicable alone due to their low dielectric constant [9]. To obtain higher piezoelectric performance, lead nickel niobate-lead zirconate titanate (PNN-PZT) [10], BaTiO 3 [11], lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) [12], and ZnO [13][14][15][16][17][18] can be used as fillers.…”