Journal ArticleDOI
Microfibre–nanowire hybrid structure for energy scavenging
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.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Output of an ultrasonic wave-driven nanogenerator in a confined tube
TL;DR: In this paper, an ultrasonic wave-driven nanogenerator (NG) was found to depend on the excitation conditions and geometry, and the effective area of an NG determined the amount of power that can be generated.
Journal ArticleDOI
Converse piezoelectric effect induced transverse deflection of a free-standing ZnO microbelt.
TL;DR: The first electric field induced transverse deflection of a single-crystal, free-standing ZnO microbelt as a result of converse piezoelectric effect is demonstrated and has potential applications as transverse actuators/sensors/switches and electric field inducing mechanical deflectors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Synthesis of CdS nanorod arrays and their applications in flexible piezo-driven active H2S sensors.
Penglei Wang,Ping Deng,Yuxin Nie,Yayu Zhao,Yan Zhang,Yan Zhang,Lili Xing,Xinyu Xue,Xinyu Xue +8 more
TL;DR: A flexible piezoelectric and gas sensing properties of CdS nanorod arrays acts not only as a power source, but also as a response signal to H2S, which can stimulate a research trend on designing new material systems and device structures for high-performance piezo-driven active gas sensors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Column buckling of magnetically affected stocky nanowires carrying electric current
TL;DR: In this article, the theoretical analysis of the buckling behavior of nanowires with high electric currents and magnetic field strengths is presented. And the role of influential factors on buckling load of the nanostructure is carefully addressed and discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
A highly flexible and substrate-independent self-powered deformation sensor based on massively aligned piezoelectric nano-/microfibers
TL;DR: In this article, the fabrication of a self-powered active deformation sensor using near-field electrospun and in situ poled polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) NMF on a Cu-foil electrode was demonstrated.
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
Bozhi Tian,Xiaolin Zheng,Thomas J. Kempa,Ying Fang,Nanfang Yu,Guihua Yu,Jinlin Huang,Charles M. Lieber +7 more
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
Joseph A. Paradiso,Thad Starner +1 more
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.