ZnO nanowires on flexible substrates for piezoelectric nanogenerators applications grown at temperatures ≤ 150 °C

G. BRIDOUX; G. SIMONELLI; V. SANTILLAN; M. VILLAFUERTE; J. GUIMPEL

Kuala Lumpur

Conferencia; The 5th International Conference on Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology (ICMEN 2021); 2021

ZnO nanostructures were synthesized on a transparent and flexible ITO covered PET substrate, combining a low temperature (150 oC) pulsed laser deposition (PLD) seeding method with a hydrothermal growth. For comparison, an ITO/glass substrate seeded with a spin coated solution heat treated at 330 oC was also used for the hydrothermal growth. The resulting structures were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and room temperature photoluminescence. Wurtzite ZnO nanowires (NWs) were revealed, with an improved coverage of the substrate in the case of the substrate seeded by PLD. Preferential c orientation of the structures was obtained, with a misalignment of ± 12o and ± 7o for PLD and spin coating seeding processes, respectively. A device was fabricated with the NWs grown on the ITO/PET substrate to evaluate its piezoelectric response. The corresponding I-V curve presented a Schottky behavior. Current pulses of ≈ 1 nA were generated when the device was pressed, changing sign when it was released, as expected for the piezoelectric generation phenomenon.