Vertically aligned zinc oxide nanowires electrodeposited within porous polycarbonate templates for vibrational energy harvesting. (3rd June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boughey, Francesca L; Davies, Timothy; Datta, Anuja; Whiter, Richard A; Sahonta, Suman-Lata; Kar-Narayan, Sohini
• Is Part Of: Nanotechnology. Volume 27:Number 28(2016)
• Publication Date: 2016-06-03
• Subjects: nanogenerator -- piezoelectric -- zinc oxide -- electrodeposition -- nanowires -- energy harvesting; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology; Publications périodiques; Nanotechnologies; Periodicals; 620.5
• DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/28/28LT02
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-4484

Abstract

Abstract: A piezoelectric nanogenerator has been fabricated using a simple, fast and scalable template-assisted electrodeposition process, by which vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires were directly grown within a nanoporous polycarbonate (PC) template. The nanowires, having average diameter 184 nm and length 12 μ m, are polycrystalline and have a preferred orientation of the [100] axis parallel to the long axis. The output power density of a nanogenerator fabricated from the as-grown ZnO nanowires still embedded within the PC template was found to be 151 ± 25 mW m −3 at an impedance-matched load, when subjected to a low-level periodic (5 Hz) impacting force akin to gentle finger tapping. An energy conversion efficiency of ∼4.2% was evaluated for the electrodeposited ZnO nanowires, and the ZnO–PC composite nanogenerator was found to maintain good energy harvesting performance through 24 h of continuous fatigue testing. This is particularly significant given that ZnO-based nanostructures typically suffer from mechanical and/or environmental degradation that otherwise limits their applicability in vibrational energy harvesting. Our template-assisted synthesis of ZnO nanowires embedded within a protective polymer matrix through a single growth process is thus attractive for the fabrication of low-cost, robust and stable nanogenerators.