Abstract
The growing use of wearable devices has been stimulating research efforts in the development of energy harvesters as more portable and practical energy sources alternatives. The field of piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), especially employing zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs), has greatly flourished in recent years. Despite its modest piezoelectric coefficient, ZnO is very attractive due to its sustainable raw materials and the facility to obtain distinct morphologies, which increases its multifunctionality. The integration of ZnO nanostructures into polymeric matrices to overcome their fragility has already been proven to be fruitful, nevertheless, their concentration in the composite should be optimized to maximize the harvesters’ output, an aspect that has not been properly addressed. This work studies a composite with variable concentrations of ZnO nanorods (NRs), grown by microwave radiation assisted hydrothermal synthesis, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). With a 25 wt % ZnO NRs concentration in a composite that was further micro-structured through laser engraving for output enhancement, a nanogenerator (NG) was fabricated with an output of 6 V at a pushing force of 2.3 N. The energy generated by the NG could be stored and later employed to power small electronic devices, ultimately illustrating its potential as an energy harvesting device.
Highlights
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The morphology analysis of the zinc oxide (ZnO) NRs was performed with a Carl Zeiss AURIGA CrossBeam (FIB-SEM) workstation (Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Oberkochen, Germany), while the morphology and EDX analysis of the composite was performed in standard observation mode and EDX mode, respectively, at 15 kV, using a tabletop SEM Hitachi TM3030Plus
This work reports the use of ZnO NRs, produced through microwave radiatio sisted hydrothermal synthesis, to fabricate energy harvesters
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The establishment of wearables has created new energy supply challenges. This supply is mainly provided by batteries and capacitors, which despite delivering a high output, commonly in a mW scale, are only able to do it for a limited time and with the inconvenience of their bulkiness. Given that low power devices do not require such high outputs, energy scavenged from the environment through energy harvesters can be a viable alternative to batteries and similar devices. Energy harvesters can scavenge energy almost at any time without interruptions and through small devices that are more compatible with wearables [1]
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