Challenges of low-temperature synthesized ZnO nanowires and their integration into nanogenerators
Résumé
From the multitude of nanostructures under active research, Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) have attracted enormous attention due to the materials’ unique electrical, optical, mechanical and piezoelectric properties. Since 10 years, piezoelectric nanocomposites based nanogenerators (NGs) have gained extensive attention for their applications in mechanical energy harvesters and self-powered tactile sensors. Hydrothermal approach is used for the synthesis of ZnO NWs and is a low cost manufacturing process, compatible with large area substrates. We present here a flexible and stretchable nanogenerator (SNG) which is manufactured thanks to a facile, cost-effective and industrially scalable process, on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The SNG exhibits excellent performance with a 35 μW peak output power achieved from a 8 cm2 device under a pressure of 100 kPa. The key issues of efficient NGs will be presented, in order to maximize the performance of these devices dedicated to low frequency mechanical energy harvesting.