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Journal ArticleDOI

Microfibre–nanowire hybrid structure for energy scavenging

Yong Qin, +2 more
- 14 Feb 2008 - 
- Vol. 451, Iss: 7180, pp 809-813
TLDR
This work establishes a methodology for scavenging light-wind energy and body-movement energy using fabrics and presents a simple, low-cost approach that converts low-frequency vibration/friction energy into electricity using piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowires grown radially around textile fibres.
Abstract
Nanodevices don't use much energy, and if the little they do need can be scavenged from vibrations associated with foot steps, heart beats, noises and air flow, a whole range of applications in personal electronics, sensing and defence technologies opens up. Energy gathering of that type requires a technology that works at low frequency range (below 10 Hz), ideally based on soft, flexible materials. A group working at Georgia Institute of Technology has now come up with a system that converts low-frequency vibration/friction energy into electricity using piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowires grown radially around textile fibres. By entangling two fibres and brushing their associated nanowires together, mechanical energy is converted into electricity via a coupled piezoelectric-semiconductor process. This work shows a potential method for creating fabrics which scavenge energy from light winds and body movement. A self-powering nanosystem that harvests its operating energy from the environment is an attractive proposition for sensing, personal electronics and defence technologies1. This is in principle feasible for nanodevices owing to their extremely low power consumption2,3,4,5. Solar, thermal and mechanical (wind, friction, body movement) energies are common and may be scavenged from the environment, but the type of energy source to be chosen has to be decided on the basis of specific applications. Military sensing/surveillance node placement, for example, may involve difficult-to-reach locations, may need to be hidden, and may be in environments that are dusty, rainy, dark and/or in deep forest. In a moving vehicle or aeroplane, harvesting energy from a rotating tyre or wind blowing on the body is a possible choice to power wireless devices implanted in the surface of the vehicle. Nanowire nanogenerators built on hard substrates were demonstrated for harvesting local mechanical energy produced by high-frequency ultrasonic waves6,7. To harvest the energy from vibration or disturbance originating from footsteps, heartbeats, ambient noise and air flow, it is important to explore innovative technologies that work at low frequencies (such as <10 Hz) and that are based on flexible soft materials. Here we present a simple, low-cost approach that converts low-frequency vibration/friction energy into electricity using piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowires grown radially around textile fibres. By entangling two fibres and brushing the nanowires rooted on them with respect to each other, mechanical energy is converted into electricity owing to a coupled piezoelectric–semiconductor process8,9. This work establishes a methodology for scavenging light-wind energy and body-movement energy using fabrics.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Energy harvesting based on semiconducting piezoelectric ZnO nanostructures

TL;DR: In this paper, the importance of energy harvesting using ZnO nanostructures is discussed, mainly focusing on photovoltaics, piezoelectric nanogenerators, and hybrid approach to energy harvesting.
Journal ArticleDOI

Preferential Growth of Long ZnO Nanowire Array and Its Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

TL;DR: In this article, a liquid phase chemical process for preferential growth of long ZnO nanowires has been developed, which effectively suppresses homogeneous nucleation and prevents formation of ZnOs in the bulk solution while allowing rapid growth of ZNO nanowsires on seeded substrates.
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Brush-Like Hierarchical ZnO Nanostructures: Synthesis, Photoluminescence and Gas Sensor Properties

TL;DR: In this article, brush-like hierarchical ZnO nanostructures assembled from initial 1D ZnOs were prepared from sequential nucleation and growth following a hydrothermal process.
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Nanotechnology-enabled flexible and biocompatible energy harvesting

TL;DR: An overview of the opportunities, progresses, and challenges in the rapidly accelerating field of nanopiezoelectrics suggests a rich platform for a host of exciting avenues in fundamental research and novel applications.
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Flexible Supercapacitor Made of Carbon Nanotube Yarn with Internal Pores

TL;DR: The hybrid yarn's blended structure, resulting from trapping of MnO2 in its internal pores, effectively enlarges electrochemical area and reduces charge diffusion length, and the yarn supercapacitor exhibits high values of capacitance, energy density, and average power density.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Piezoelectric Nanogenerators Based on Zinc Oxide Nanowire Arrays

TL;DR: This approach has the potential of converting mechanical, vibrational, and/or hydraulic energy into electricity for powering nanodevices.
Journal ArticleDOI

Ballistic carbon nanotube field-effect transistors

TL;DR: It is shown that contacting semiconducting single-walled nanotubes by palladium, a noble metal with high work function and good wetting interactions with nanotube, greatly reduces or eliminates the barriers for transport through the valence band of nanot tubes.
Journal ArticleDOI

Coaxial silicon nanowires as solar cells and nanoelectronic power sources

TL;DR: These coaxial silicon nanowire photovoltaic elements provide a new nanoscale test bed for studies of photoinduced energy/charge transport and artificial photosynthesis, and might find general usage as elements for powering ultralow-power electronics and diverse nanosystems.
Journal ArticleDOI

Energy scavenging for mobile and wireless electronics

TL;DR: A whirlwind survey of energy harvesting can be found in this article, where the authors present a survey of recent advances in energy harvesting, spanning historic and current developments in sensor networks and mobile devices.
Journal ArticleDOI

Direct-current nanogenerator driven by ultrasonic waves

TL;DR: A nanowire nanogenerator that is driven by an ultrasonic wave to produce continuous direct-current output and offers a potential solution for powering nanodevices and nanosystems.
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