Self-powered environmental sensor system driven by nanogenerators

Lee, Minbaek; Bae, Jin Woo; Lee, Joohyung; Lee, Churl-Seung; Hong, Seunghun; Wang, Zhong Lin

doi:10.1039/c1ee01558c

Cited by 219 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Currently, piezoelectric NGs have been used to drive some electrical devices by harvesting mechanical energy from the environment. 14 Although different designs of pyroelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) have been reported, the output voltage and current of these devices are still very low (voltage below 0.1 V, and current below 1 nA), 11,15 which are not enough for driving any commercial electronics. To solve this problem, the performance optimization of the PENGs is desperately needed.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pyroelectric Nanogenerators for Driving Wireless Sensors

et al. 2012

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We demonstrate a pyroelectric nanogenerator (PENG) based on a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film, which has a pyroelectric coefficient of about −80 nC/cm 2 K. For a temperature change of 45 K at a rate of 0.2 K/s, the output open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density of the PENG reached 22 V and 171 nA/cm 2 , respectively, corresponding to a maximum power density of 0.215 mW/ cm 3 . A detailed theory was developed for understanding the high output voltage of PENG. A single electrical output pulse can directly drive a liquid crystal display (LCD) for longer than 60 s. A Li-ion battery was charged by the PENG at different working frequencies, which was used to drive a green lightemitting diode (LED). The demonstrated PENG shows potential applications in wireless sensors. KEYWORDS: Pyroelectric effect, nanogenerators, PZT, self-powered nanosystems O wing to a tremendously increased energy consumption of modern societies, the development of green and renewable nanoenergy sources is becoming one of the most important fields of research. 1−3 There are several typical physics effects that can be used to fabricate nanogenerators (NGs) for harvesting energy from the ambient environment. Both piezoelectric and triboelectric effects can be used to harvest mechanical energy. 4−7 The pyroelectric effect is based on the change of spontaneous polarization in certain anisotropic solids due to the temperature fluctuation, 8 which can be used to harvest thermal energy from the change in temperature. Although the Seebeck effect can also be used to harvest thermal energy by utilizing a temperature difference between two ends of the device for driving the diffusion of charge carriers, 9,10 the pyroelectric effect has to be the choice in an environment where the temperature is spatially uniform but time-dependent. 11 Self-powering nanotechnology has been developed since 2005 with the aim to build self-powered systems that can operate independently and wirelessly without the use of a battery or other energy storage/supply systems. 12−14 We have been developing nanogenerators for this purpose. One of the great applications for the self-powered system is to use nanogenerators to drive personal electronics, such as LCDs and LEDs. Currently, piezoelectric NGs have been used to drive some electrical devices by harvesting mechanical energy from the environment. 14 Although different designs of pyroelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) have been reported, the output voltage and current of these devices are still very low (voltage below 0.1 V, and current below 1 nA), 11,15 which are not enough for driving any commercial electronics. To solve this problem, the performance optimization of the PENGs is desperately needed. Here, we demonstrated a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film PENG, where the output open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density can be up to 22 V and 171 nA/cm 2 , respectively. Under a change in temperature of 45 K, a single output pulse of PENG can continuously drive a LCD for longer than 60 s. A Li-...

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Pyroelectric Nanogenerators for Driving Wireless Sensors

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“…Using such a significant output, we were able to charge a capacitor of 2 μF to over 3 V with less than 20 times of palm impact ( Figure 4d). 20,24 Using the instantaneous electric output of the NG pad for each palm impact, we successfully achieved real-time FES of a sciatic nerve of a frog. For a nerve cell at rest, it is normally polarized with a negative transmembrane potential.…”

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Functional Electrical Stimulation by Nanogenerator with 58 V Output Voltage

et al. 2012

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We demonstrate a new type of integrated nanogenerator based on arrays of vertically aligned piezoelectric ZnO nanowires. The peak open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current reach a record high level of 58 V and 134 μA, respectively, with a maximum power density of 0.78 W/cm 3 . The electric output was directly applied to a sciatic nerve of a frog, inducing innervation of the nerve. Vibrant contraction of the frog's gastrocnemius muscle is observed as a result of the instantaneous electric input from the nanogenerator.KEYWORDS: Nanogenerator, ZnO, energy harvesting, functional electrical stimulation T he modern life is inexorably dependent on emerging technologies in stand-alone portable systems designed to provide complete and personal solutions.1 Integration of microto-nanosized sensors, actuators/transducers, and medical implants leads to ultraminiaturized and multifunctional smart systems that are expected to provide unprecedented life quality for human kinds.2−4 For such a system that consumes much less power than do their bulky counterparts, it is not only significant but also very feasible to harvest ambient energy to build self-powered systems that can operate independently and sustainably. Here, we achieved real-time functional electrical stimulation (FES) of a sciatic nerve of a frog by a new type of ZnO-nanowire (NW)-based nanogenerator (NG) that produced electricity from biomechanical energy. The electric output from the NG reached a record high of 58 V and 134 μA, with a maximum power density of 0.78 W/cm 3 . It was sufficient to directly and instantaneously induce innervating of the motor never and hence contraction of the frog's gastrocnemius muscle. Our demonstration suggests potential applications of the nanogenerator in biomedical and neurological fields, such as the power source for neuroprosthetic devices.Since 2005, we have been developing "self-powered nanotechnology" by ZnO-nanowire-based NGs. 5,6 By virtue of the piezoelectric effect of ZnO NWs, the NGs target ambient mechanical energy, transforming it into electrical energy. As a result of worldwide efforts, such a concept is being developed into a practical technology with a variety of demonstrated applications.7−13 However, a major limitation was that the output power of a NG was still not sufficiently high enough for real-time operation of conventional electronics.The previously designed NGs utilized the Schottky barrier between metal−semiconductor contacts, which was required for charge accumulation. 5,14−16 In this work we developed a novel design and process flow for fabricating an integrated NG based on position-controlled vertical ZnO NWs. The Schottky contact was replaced by a thin insulating layer that prevents the current leakage through the internal structure. The process flow for fabrication is shown in Figure 1. A precleaned silicon substrate was consecutively deposited with an ITO layer and a ZnO seed layer by RF sputtering (Figure 1a−c). Not only does the ITO layer play a role as a conductive electrode, but ...

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“…In order to improve its output, many attempts have been made ranging from altering piezoelectric materials, that is, ZnO, 2 GaN, 3 CdS, 4 PbZr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 , 5,6 BaTiO 3 , 7 PVDF, 8 to different designs, such as lateral, 5,9,10 radial, 11 or vertical integrations. 2,6 Up to now, various kinds of self-powered functional systems have been realized, such as self-powered pH sensor, 9 UV sensor, 9 small liquid crystal display, 12 commercial laser diode, 6 pressure/ speed sensor, 13 environmental sensor, 14 and so on. Among these systems, many of them need an energy storage unit to make them work properly.…”

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“…In order to improve its output, many attempts have been made ranging from altering piezoelectric materials, that is, ZnO, 14 and so on. Among these systems, many of them need an energy storage unit to make them work properly.…”

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Flexible Fiber Nanogenerator with 209 V Output Voltage Directly Powers a Light-Emitting Diode

et al. 2012

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On the basis of a vertically aligned ultralong Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PZT) nanowire array fabricated using electrospinning nanofibers, we developed a new type of integrated nanogenerator (NG) with ultrahigh output voltage of 209 V and current density of 23.5 μA/cm 2 , which are 3.6 times and 2.9 times of the previous record values, respectively. The output electricity can be directly used to stimulate the frog's sciatic nerve and to induce a contraction of a frog's gastrocnemius. The NG can instantaneously power a commercial light-emitting diode (LED) without the energy storage process. KEYWORDS: Nanogenerator, high output, energy harvesting, PZT nanowires, electrospinning H arvesting clean and renewable energy from the environment is an effective method to response the current energy crisis and power wide distributed nano/microdevices. As a novel energy collector, nanogenerator (NG) exhibits a number of features not shared by the traditional generators, that is, the ones based on ocean tide, river falls, and wind, etc. NG fabricated with piezoelectric nanomaterials can convert tiny and irregular environmental mechanical energy to electricity from sources such as air flowing, heart beating, and so on, which are more popular in our living environment compared to the energy source used for traditional generators as mentioned above.1 Moreover, due to its small size the NG can be effectively integrated with the nano/microscale functional devices to form a self-powered system, which has potential applications in the internet of things, national security, biomedical, and industry areas. In order to improve its output, many attempts have been made ranging from altering piezoelectric materials, that is, ZnO, 14 and so on. Among these systems, many of them need an energy storage unit to make them work properly. This energy storage circuit adds much complexity to the self-powered system and hinders its capacity to work in different tough environments. Here, we report a simple approach of fabricating vertically ultralong Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 (PZT) nanowire arrays from electrospinning fibers to make a high output NG. Benefiting from the ultralong length of vertical nanowires, the fabricated NG has a maximum output peak voltage of 209 V, which is much higher than the past record of 58 V.2 Also, the NG can output a maximum peak current of 53 μA and current density of 23.5 μA/cm 2 , which is 2.9 times of the recent highest value of 8.13 μA/cm 2 . 15 The output power of our NG can be directly used to stimulate the frog's sciatic nerve and induce a contraction of that frog's gastrocnemius. Moreover, the NG can power a commercial light-emitting diode (LED) instantly without energy storage, which is a considerable progress for the development of selfpowered devices.Previous studies have shown that high piezoelectric coefficient of the fabricating material and integrated parallel and serial connection designs are two major factors to effectively increase NG's output. So, we use PZT, which possesses the highest piezo...

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Self-powered environmental sensor system driven by nanogenerators

Cited by 219 publications

References 25 publications

Pyroelectric Nanogenerators for Driving Wireless Sensors

Pyroelectric Nanogenerators for Driving Wireless Sensors

Functional Electrical Stimulation by Nanogenerator with 58 V Output Voltage

Flexible Fiber Nanogenerator with 209 V Output Voltage Directly Powers a Light-Emitting Diode

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