Yusheng Zhou

Toward Large-Scale Energy Harvesting by a Nanoparticle-Enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerator

This article describes a simple, cost-effective, and scalable approach to fabricate a triboelectric nanogenerator (NG) with ultrahigh electric output. Triggered by commonly available ambient mechanical energy such as human footfalls, a NG with size smaller than a human palm can generate maximum short-circuit current of 2 mA, delivering instantaneous power output of 1.2 W to external load. The power output corresponds to an area power density of 313 W/m(2) and a volume power density of 54,268 W/m(3) at an open-circuit voltage of ~1200 V. An energy conversion efficiency of 14.9% has been achieved. The power was capable of instantaneously lighting up as many as 600 multicolor commercial LED bulbs. The record high power output for the NG is attributed to optimized structure, proper materials selection and nanoscale surface modification. This work demonstrated the practicability of using NG to harvest large-scale mechanical energy, such as footsteps, rolling wheels, wind power, and ocean waves.

Triboelectric-Generator-Driven Pulse Electrodeposition for Micropatterning

By converting ambient energy into electricity, energy harvesting is capable of at least offsetting, or even replacing, the reliance of small portable electronics on traditional power supplies, such as batteries. Here we demonstrate a novel and simple generator with extremely low cost for efficiently harvesting mechanical energy that is typically present in the form of vibrations and random displacements/deformation. Owing to the coupling of contact charging and electrostatic induction, electric generation was achieved with a cycled process of contact and separation between two polymer films. A detailed theory is developed for understanding the proposed mechanism. The instantaneous electric power density reached as high as 31.2 mW/cm(3) at a maximum open circuit voltage of 110 V. Furthermore, the generator was successfully used without electric storage as a direct power source for pulse electrodeposition (PED) of micro/nanocrystalline silver structure. The cathodic current efficiency reached up to 86.6%. Not only does this work present a new type of generator that is featured by simple fabrication, large electric output, excellent robustness, and extremely low cost, but also extends the application of energy-harvesting technology to the field of electrochemistry with further utilizations including, but not limited to, pollutant degradation, corrosion protection, and water splitting.

Pyroelectric nanogenerators for harvesting thermoelectric energy.

Harvesting thermoelectric energy mainly relies on the Seebeck effect that utilizes a temperature difference between two ends of the device for driving the diffusion of charge carriers. However, in an environment that the temperature is spatially uniform without a gradient, the pyroelectric effect has to be the choice, which is based on the spontaneous polarization in certain anisotropic solids due to a time-dependent temperature variation. Using this effect, we experimentally demonstrate the first application of pyroelectric ZnO nanowire arrays for converting heat energy into electricity. The coupling of the pyroelectric and semiconducting properties in ZnO creates a polarization electric field and charge separation along the ZnO nanowire as a result of the time-dependent change in temperature. The fabricated nanogenerator has a good stability, and the characteristic coefficient of heat flow conversion into electricity is estimated to be ∼0.05-0.08 Vm(2)/W. Our study has the potential of using pyroelectric nanowires to convert wasted energy into electricity for powering nanodevices.

Functional Electrical Stimulation by Nanogenerator with 58 V Output Voltage

We demonstrate a new type of integrated nanogenerator based on arrays of vertically aligned piezoelectric ZnO nanowires. The peak open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current reach a record high level of 58 V and 134 μA, respectively, with a maximum power density of 0.78 W/cm(3). The electric output was directly applied to a sciatic nerve of a frog, inducing innervation of the nerve. Vibrant contraction of the frogs gastrocnemius muscle is observed as a result of the instantaneous electric input from the nanogenerator.

Thermoelectric Nanogenerators Based on Single Sb-Doped ZnO Micro/Nanobelts

We demonstrate a thermoelectric nanogenerator (NG) made from a single Sb-doped ZnO micro/nanobelt that generates an output power of about 1.94 nW under a temperature difference of 30 K between the two electrodes. A single Sb-doped ZnO microbelt was bonded at its ends on a glass substrate as a NG, which can give an output voltage of 10 mV and an output current of 194 nA. The single Sb-doped ZnO microbelt shows a Seebeck coefficient of about -350 μV/K and a high power factor of about 3.2 × 10(-4) W/mK(2). The fabricated NG demonstrated its potential to work as a self-powered temperature sensor with a reset time of about 9 s.

Enhanced Performance of Flexible ZnO Nanowire Based Room‐Temperature Oxygen Sensors by Piezotronic Effect

A flexible oxygen sensor based on individual ZnO nanowires is demonstrated with high sensitivity at room temperature and the influence of the piezotronic effect on the performance of this oxygen sensor is investigated. By applying a tensile strain, the already very high sensitivity due to the Schottky contact and pre-treatment of UV light is even further enhanced.

Piezotronic effect in solution-grown p-type ZnO nanowires and films.

Investigating the piezotronic effect in p-type piezoelectric semiconductor is critical for developing a complete piezotronic theory and designing/fabricating novel piezotronic applications with more complex functionality. Using a low temperature solution method, we were able to produce ultralong (up to 60 μm in length) Sb doped p-type ZnO nanowires on both rigid and flexible substrates. For the p-type nanowire field effect transistor, the on/off ratio, threshold voltage, mobility, and carrier concentration of 0.2% Sb-doped sample are found to be 10(5), 2.1 V, 0.82 cm(2)·V(-1)·s(-1), and 2.6 × 10(17) cm(-3), respectively, and the corresponding values for 1% Sb doped samples are 10(4), 2.0 V, 1.24 cm(2)·V(-1)·s(-1), and 3.8 × 10(17) cm(-3). We further investigated the universality of piezotronic effect in the as-synthesized Sb-doped p-type ZnO NWs and reported for the first time strain-gated piezotronic transistors as well as piezopotential-driven mechanical energy harvesting based on solution-grown p-type ZnO NWs. The results presented here broaden the scope of piezotronics and extend the framework for its potential applications in electronics, optoelectronics, smart MEMS/NEMS, and human-machine interfacing.

Lead-free KNbO3 ferroelectric nanorod based flexible nanogenerators and capacitors.

In spite of high piezoelectricity, only a few one-dimensional ferroelectric nano-materials with perovskite structure have been used for piezoelectric nanogenerator applications. In this paper, we report high output electrical signals, i.e. an open-circuit voltage of 3.2 V and a closed-circuit current of 67.5 nA (current density 9.3 nA cm(-2)) at 0.38% strain and 15.2% s(-1) strain rate, using randomly aligned lead-free KNbO(3) ferroelectric nanorods (~1 μm length) with piezoelectric coefficient (d(33) ~ 55 pm V (-1)). A flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator is mainly composed of KNbO(3)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) composite sandwiched by Au/Cr-coated polymer substrates. We deposit a thin poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layer between the KNbO(3)-PDMS composite and the Au/Cr electrode to completely prevent dielectric breakdown during electrical poling and to significantly reduce leakage current during excessive straining. The flexible KNbO(3)-PDMS composite device shows a nearly frequency-independent dielectric constant (~3.2) and low dielectric loss (<0.006) for the frequency range of 10(2)-10(5) Hz. These results imply that short and randomly aligned ferroelectric nanorods can be used for a flexible high output nanogenerator as well as high-k capacitor applications by performing electrical poling and further optimizing the device structure.

Flexible and transparent nanogenerators based on a composite of lead-free ZnSnO3 triangular-belts.

A flexible and transparent lead-free triangular-belt ZnSnO(3) nanogenerator is demonstrated. When a mechanical deformation of ≈0.1% is applied to the triangular-belt ZnSnO(3) nanogenerator, the output voltage and current reached 5.3 V and 0.13 μA, respectively, which indicated a maximum output power density of ≈11 μW·cm(-3). This is the highest output power that has been demonstrated by lead-free ZnSnO(3) triangular-belts.

Strain-Gated Piezotronic Transistors Based on Vertical Zinc Oxide Nanowires

Strain-gated piezotronic transistors have been fabricated using vertically aligned ZnO nanowires (NWs), which were grown on GaN/sapphire substrates using a vapor-liquid-solid process. The gate electrode of the transistor is replaced by the internal crystal potential generated by strain, and the control over the transported current is at the interface between the nanowire and the top or bottom electrode. The current-voltage characteristics of the devices were studied using conductive atomic force microscopy, and the results show that the current flowing through the ZnO NWs can be tuned/gated by the mechanical force applied to the NWs. This phenomenon was attributed to the piezoelectric tuning of the Schottky barrier at the Au-ZnO junction, known as the piezotronic effect. Our study demonstrates the possibility of using Au droplet capped ZnO NWs as a transistor array for mapping local strain. More importantly, our design gives the possibility of fabricating an array of transistors using individual vertical nanowires that can be controlled independently by applying mechanical force/pressure over the top. Such a structure is likely to have important applications in high-resolution mapping of strain/force/pressure.