Fabrication and investigation of zinc oxide nanoflowers-based piezoelectric nanogenerator

Abstract

The versatility of the use of zinc oxide in numerous applications has attracted the attention of various academicresearch workers and industries. Various micro and nanostructures of zinc oxide have been explored owing to different growthmethods and applications. In this research work, zinc oxide nanoflower is grown on a glass substrate using un-complicated anda low-cost hydrothermal method. Hydrolysis of zinc nitrate is done in a basic medium. The main criteria followed for such astructural growth is the control of the pH of the solution precursor. The grown structure is further characterised by using thescanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Synthesised zinc oxide nanostructure isutilised as a piezoelectric material in a nanogenerator. The maximum power per unit area of 2.6 mW/m2 is achieved. Simulationresults of the similar zinc oxide nanostructure is also presented, which substantiate the experimental results.