The improvement of Triboelectric effect of ZnO Nanorods/PAN in flexible Nanogenerator by adding TiO2 nanoparticle

Abstract

The aim of this research is to study the presence of TiO2 in ZnO nanoparticles as a seed layer before the growth of ZnO nanorods on PET substrates to be applied as a nanogenerator. The variation of the TiO2 on ZnO nanoparticles was comprehensively investigated to determine its effect on the crystal structure, morphology, current, and voltage which was then applied as an active material for nanogenerator. Fabrication of ZnO, TiO2, and Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) layer is believed to improve triboelectric contact efficiency when pressed by external mechanical forces, thereby increasing the electric output of nanogenerator. TiO2 nanoparticles with variations of 1, 2, and 3 wt% were added in ZnO nanoparticles solutions, acetate zinc, and monoethanolamine. The ZnO/TiO2 nanoparticle became the seed layer of the growth of the nanorods by hydrothermal method at 100 °C. These results indicate that the voltage decreases with the increasing composition of TiO2 and reaches its minimum value for 2 wt% of TiO2 then increases dramatically for 3 wt% of TiO2. The addition of Cu2O layer above ZnO nanorods without and with 3 wt% of TiO2 characterized by photodetector showed the presence of photovoltaic potential in ZnO nanogenerator due to p-n juntion between Cu2O and ZnO. .