Patterned growth of ZnO nanowires on flexible substrates for enhanced performance of flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators

Flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators (NGs) based on patterned growth of ZnO nanowires (PNWs) by the hydrothermal method are proposed for high-efficiency energy harvesting applications. The use of the PNWs in ZnO-based FPNGs results in a significant improvement in terms of the magnitude of the output currents of up to 6 times when compared with pristine ZnO NW-based FPNGs without patterned growth mode. The maximum output current was measured to be about 150 nA, which was enough to drive some micro/nanoelectronic devices. The improved output performance is mainly attributed to the patterned growth mode in FPNGs, which may significantly reduce the piezoelectric potential screening effect caused by free electrons in ZnO. This strategy may provide a highly promising platform as energy harvesting devices for viable industrial applications in portable/wearable nanodevices.