Optical and piezoelectric properties of p-type ZnO nanowires on transparent flexible substrate for energy harvesting

Guocheng Liu; Man Chun Tam; Lilei Hu; Karim EI-Rayes; Qiuquan Guo; Jun Yang; Nezih Mrad; Dayan Ban

doi:10.1117/12.2061237

5 September 2014 Optical and piezoelectric properties of p-type ZnO nanowires on transparent flexible substrate for energy harvesting

Guocheng Liu, Man Chun Tam, Lilei Hu, Karim EI-Rayes, Qiuquan Guo, Jun Yang, Nezih Mrad, Dayan Ban

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9202, Photonics Applications for Aviation, Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments V; 92020H (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2061237
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2014, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

High quality, controlled-structure nanowires (NWs), grown on a transparent flexible substrate, have attracted great interest as a mean of harvesting solar and mechanical energy. Clarifying their optical and piezoelectric properties is essential for this application. In this paper, vertically aligned lithium (Li) doped p-type ZnO NWs were grown, on a micro-patterned transparent flexible polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate, by electrochemical deposition at 88 °C. The substrate was coated with aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) thin layer, which served as a good seed layer and a transparent conductive oxide layer. Varying the seed layer thickness gave control of the individual NWs’ diameter, density and alignment. The effect of doping on the optical band-gap, crystalline quality and Schottky barrier were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and piezoelectric characterization. The piezoelectric polarization induced piezo-potential in strained ZnO NWs can drive the flow of electrons without an applied electric bias, thus can be used to harvest mechanical energy and convert it into electricity. To prove this concept, flexible piezoelectric energy harvesters based on an array of ZnO NWs were fabricated. Results show that the patterned p-type NW-based energy harvester produces 26-fold output voltage and 19-fold current compared to the conventional un-doped ZnO NW energy harvester from the same acceleration input.

Citation Download Citation

Guocheng Liu, Man Chun Tam, Lilei Hu, Karim EI-Rayes, Qiuquan Guo, Jun Yang, Nezih Mrad, and Dayan Ban "Optical and piezoelectric properties of p-type ZnO nanowires on transparent flexible substrate for energy harvesting", Proc. SPIE 9202, Photonics Applications for Aviation, Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments V, 92020H (5 September 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2061237

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available