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Indexed by:Journal Papers

Date of Publication:2015-05-01

Journal:JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Included Journals:SCIE、EI、Scopus

Volume:7

Issue:3

ISSN No.:1941-7012

Abstract:There are numerous sources of mechanical energy in our environment, such as ultrasonic waves, body movement, and irregular air flow/vibration. Here, we present a simple, cost-effective approach for fabricating a flexible nanogenerator and apply it to harvest energy from environmental mechanical vibrations. The nanogenerator was based on ZnO nanorods grown on common paper substrate using a low-temperature hydrothermal method. Piezoelectric currents were measured by attaching the nanogenerator on the surface of a cantilever and a wind-up drum, respectively. At the same time, the vibrations of the cantilever and wind-up drum could also be characterized by the corresponding output signals. This is a practical and versatile technology with the potential for converting a variety of environment energy into electric energy, and also with the application for pre-warning of emergency, such as earthquake and burgling. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.