Ultra-long vertically aligned lead titanate nanowire arrays for energy harvesting in extreme environments

Abstract

Recent research has shown that nanowire arrays can be fabricated into power harvesting devices that convert ambient vibrations to electrical power. These devices, however, are limited to low temperature environments due to material constraints. To solve this problem, this paper offers a route to obtain a nanowire energy harvester that is capable of operating at extreme temperatures. This is achieved by developing a method to synthesize vertically aligned arrays of ultra-long lead titanate nanowires and fabricating them into an energy harvester. Performing power characterization measurements of the device in a temperature-controlled environment illustrates useful power generation at temperatures up to 375°C. This work offers a new method for the fabrication of extreme temperature device thereby offering a significant advancement in the field of energy harvesting by demonstrating energy production in extreme environments where previous systems would fail.