High-performance BCTZ nanowires-based energy harvesting device and self-powered bio-compatible flexion sensor

Publication date: 15 April 2018
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 144
Author(s): C.C. Jin, X.C. Liu, C.H. Liu, Y. Wang, H.L. Hwang, Q. Wang
With excellent piezoelectric properties, (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Ti0.9Zr0.1)O3 (BCTZ) has been widely used in actuators, capacitors, sensors, etc. In this work, we fabricated BCTZ nanowires (NWs) by using sol-gel based electrospinning technique. By applying plate-electrode and parallel-electrode collectors, random BCTZ NWs (R-NWs) and well-aligned BCTZ NWs (A-NWs) were obtained. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy indicated that the NWs have good crystallinity. Furthermore, two flexible energy harvesting devices (EHDs) based on A-NWs and R-NWs were fabricated and their piezoelectric properties were measured. Under a load resistance of 1MΩ, the output power of the R-NWs-based EHD is only ~0.95μW while that for A-NWs-based EHD can reach up to ~2μW, which can easily light a commercial light-emitting diode. Finally, we further demonstrated that the EHD could function as a non-invasive self-powered bio-compatible flexion sensor to apperceive the human knuckle flexion/extension movements.

Graphical abstract

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