Investigating Output Voltage and Mechanical Stability of a Piezoelectric Nanogenerator Based on ZnO Nanowire

Subject Areas : International Journal of Bio-Inorganic Hybrid Nanomaterials

S. Fathi ¹ , T. Fanaei Sheikholeslami ²

1 - Electrical and Electronic Department, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
2 - Electrical and Electronic Department, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

Received: 2015-03-28 Accepted : 2015-05-31 Published : 2015-04-01

Keywords: ZnO, Conical nanowire, Piezoelectric nanogenerator, Piezoelectric potential, Insulating layer,

Abstract :

The output of a piezoelectric nanogenerator based on ZnO nanowire is largely affected by the shape of nanowire. In order to obtain mechanically stable nanogenerator with high performance, the investigation of mechanical and electrical characteristics related to the nanowires and materials used in nanogenerators are of great interest and significance. This paper presents the various behavior of the conduction band, carrier concentration and the magnitude and distribution of the piezoelectric potential in cylindrical and conical shape ZnO nanowire (NW) by using finite element (FE) method. It is shown that symmetry reduction in nanowire shape and replacement the cylindrical NW with the conical NW, results in more advantageous both in terms of mechanical stability and piezoelectric potential. The large variation of the conduction band at the tip of conical nanowire results in receiving a large increase of maximum piezoelectric potential from -70 mv (cylindrical nanowire with radius of 30 nm) to -1750 mv (conical nanowire with tip radius of 5 nm and base radius of 30 nm). It is also shown that the insulating materials with lower Young’s modulus and lower relative permittivity are the best options in nanogenerator device fabrication. This numerical study can provide a guideline to design of the piezoelectric nanogenerator with high performance.

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