Issue 3, 2013

Reliable operation of a nanogenerator under ultraviolet light via engineering piezoelectric potential

Abstract

It is essential to stabilize and enhance the power output performance of piezoelectric nanogenerators (NGs) in order to use them as a sustainable power source for wireless sensors, microelectronics, and optoelectronic devices. Here, we report a facile route to stabilize and maximize the output performance of a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod (NR)-based NG in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light by reducing the piezoelectric potential screening effect caused by the free electrons in the ZnO NRs via surface passivation. We experimentally and theoretically investigated the piezoelectric potential drop in the ZnO NR-based NG due to the piezoelectric potential screening effect. A simple thermal annealing treatment was applied to the pristine ZnO NRs in air atmosphere to stabilize the output performance of the NG even in the presence of UV light. The piezoelectric output voltage from the surface-passivated NG was approximately 25 times higher than that from the NG with no passivation under UV light illumination.

Graphical abstract: Reliable operation of a nanogenerator under ultraviolet light via engineering piezoelectric potential

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Nov 2012
Accepted
14 Dec 2012
First published
14 Dec 2012

Energy Environ. Sci., 2013,6, 841-846

Reliable operation of a nanogenerator under ultraviolet light via engineering piezoelectric potential

T. T. Pham, K. Y. Lee, J. Lee, K. Kim, K. Shin, M. K. Gupta, B. Kumar and S. Kim, Energy Environ. Sci., 2013, 6, 841 DOI: 10.1039/C2EE23980A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements