Fabrication and investigation of zinc oxide nanoflowers-based piezoelectric nanogenerator

The versatility of the use of zinc oxide in numerous applications has attracted the attention of various academic research workers and industries. Various micro and nanostructures of zinc oxide have been explored owing to different growth methods and applications. In this research work, zinc oxide nanoflower is grown on a glass substrate using un-complicated and a low-cost hydrothermal method. Hydrolysis of zinc nitrate is done in a basic medium. The main criteria followed for such a structural growth is the control of the pH of the solution precursor. The grown structure is further characterised by using the scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Synthesised zinc oxide nanostructure is utilised as a piezoelectric material in a nanogenerator. The maximum power per unit area of 2.6 mW/m(2)is achieved. Simulation results of the similar zinc oxide nanostructure is also presented, which substantiate the experimental results.