Abstract
Electric potential produced in deformed piezoelectric nanostructures is of significance for both fundamental study and practical applications. To reveal the piezoelectric property of ZnO nanohelices, the piezoelectric potential in single-crystal nanohelices was simulated by finite element method calculations. For a nanohelix with a length of 1200 nm, a mean coil radius of 150 nm, five active coils, and a hexagonal coiled wire with a side length 100 nm, a compressing force of 100 nN results in a potential of 1.85 V. This potential is significantly higher than the potential produced in a straight nanowire with the same length and applied force. Maintaining the length and increasing the number of coils or mean coil radius leads to higher piezoelectric potential in the nanohelix. Appling a force along the axial direction produces higher piezoelectric potential than in other directions. Adding lateral forces to an existing axial force can change the piezoelectric potential distribution in the nanohelix, while the maximum piezoelectric potential remains largely unchanged in some cases. This research demonstrates the promising potential of ZnO nanohelices for applications in sensors, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices, nanorobotics, and energy sciences.
Highlights
Helical structures have been widely used in industry due to their low stiffness and superior capability to resist large axial strain, while helical structures are the fundamental configuration for DNA and many other biomolecules
Piezoelectric potential can alter electronic transport in zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures, which has resulted in novel devices, e.g., piezoelectric field effect transistors [13], strain sensors [14,15], programmable electromechanical memories [16], and logic circuits [17]
These results indicate that ZnO nanohelices can be excellent candidates for fabricating piezoelectric nanodevices, such as nanogenerators, actuators, and nanosensors
Summary
Helical structures have been widely used in industry due to their low stiffness and superior capability to resist large axial strain, while helical structures are the fundamental configuration for DNA and many other biomolecules. ZnO nanostructures generate piezoelectric potential when exposed to physical stimulation, such as stretching, compression, and bending Taking advantage of this phenomenon, ZnO has been used to fabricate nanogenerators for energy harvesting [9,10,11,12]. Considering the importance of piezoelectric potential in ZnO nanostructures for their applications in electronics, sensors, actuators, and nanogenerators, the distribution and effects of piezoelectric potential in ZnO nanowires have been studied. We focused on the equilibrium piezoelectric potential and showed that nanohelices could produce significantly higher potential than a nanowire with the same height under the same force. These results indicate that ZnO nanohelices can be excellent candidates for fabricating piezoelectric nanodevices, such as nanogenerators, actuators, and nanosensors
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