Simulation study on piezoelectric characteristics of two‐dimensional ZnO nanodiscs

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have emerged as an attractive approach for constructing high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators (NGs) because of their high rate of surface area to volume and good mechanical durability for applications in energy conversion devices. However, there has been to date no comprehensive study on piezoelectric characteristics of 2D ZnO nanostructures. In this paper, 2D nanodiscs have been prepared by aqueous solution method on flexible indium tin oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate substrates. Also, the piezoelectric characteristics are statistically demonstrated and analysed on the as-grown 2D ZnO nanodiscs by applying different external force with the finite element method (COMSOL Multiphysics). Besides, the size-dependent simulation analysis of piezopotentials is also conducted for further optimising output performance of NGs based on 2D ZnO nanostructures. Also, the simulation will provide a guideline for designing high-performance piezo-nanodevices.