Piezoelectric Nanogenerators based on Lead Zirconate Titanate nanostructures: an insight into the effect of potential barrier and morphology on the output power generation

Abstract

The high internal resistance of the perovskite materials used in Nanogenerators (NGs) lowers the power generation. It severely restricts their application for mechanical energy harvesting from the ambient source. In this work, we demonstrate a flexible Piezoelectric NG (PENG) with an improved device structure. Hydrothermally grown one-dimensional Lead Zirconate Titanate (Pb(ZrTi)O3) of different morphologies are used as the generating material. The morphology of the PZT nanostructures, engineered from nanoparticles to needle-shaped nanowires to increase the surface to volume ratio, provides effective mechanical contact with the electrode. The reduction of the internal resistance of the PENG has been achieved by two ways: (i) fabrication of interdigitated electrodes (IDE) to increase the interfacial polarization and (ii) lowering of Schottky barrier height (SBH) at the junction of the PZT nanostructure and the metal electrode by varying the electrode materials of different work functions. We find that lowering of the SBH at the interface contributes to an increased piezo voltage generation. The flexible nano needles-based PENG can deliver output voltage 9.5 V and power density 615 μW cm−2 on application low mechanical pressure (∼1 kPa) by tapping motion. The internal resistance of the device is ∼0.65 MΩ. It can charge a 35 μF super-capacitor up to 5 V within 20 s. This study provides a systematic pathway to solve the bottlenecks in the piezoelectric nanogenerators due to the high internal resistance.