Influence of heat treatment on zinc oxide nanostructured film grown by immersion method for nanogenerator application

Abstract

The zinc oxide (ZnO) and copper-doped ZnO (Cu:ZnO) films were synthesized by an immersion method on a sheet of aluminium foil as a substrate. Investigations were conducted into how heat treatment affected the output nanogenerator performance, surface morphological characteristics and structural properties. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the structural properties of the ZnO and Cu:ZnO films-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), and an oscilloscope was used to indicate the triboelectric response. ZnO and Cu:ZnO films exhibited an increment in average diameter size and showed good crystallinity after heat treatment. The output performance of ZnO and Cu:ZnO films based on TENGs in contact and separation mode by finger tapping was investigated. The output voltage of ZnO and Cu:ZnO films based on TENGs after heat treatment achieved a maximum of 0.63 V and 1.65 V, respectively. This study provides an essential insight into TENGs based on ZnO without a seed layer through a straightforward and inexpensive fabrication technique for nanogenerator applications.[copyright information to be updated in production process]