This work reports on investigations into the possibility of harvesting energy from the piezoelectric response of millimetric ZnO rods to movement. SEM & PL studies of hydrothermally grown ZnO rods revealed sizes ranging from 1 - 3 mm x 100 - 400 microns and suggested that each was a wurtzite monocrystal. Studies of current & voltage responses as a function of time during bending with a probe arm gave responses coherent with those reported elsewhere in the literature for ZnO nanowires or micro-rod single wire generators. The larger scale of these rods provided some advantages over such nano- and microstructures in terms of contacting ease, signal level & robustness.

Date Published: 29 February 2012
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8263, Oxide-based Materials and Devices III, 82631X (29 February 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.927621

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8263:
Oxide-based Materials and Devices III
Ferechteh H. Teherani; David C. Look; David J. Rogers, Editor(s)