The search for sustainable and efficient energy conversion technologies is becoming increasingly critical in response to global energy and environmental challenges. Traditional lead-based piezoelectric materials, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), have high piezoelectric constant but present significant health problems and environmental risks due to their hazardous metal contaminants. This study addresses these concerns by investigating barium titanate (BTO), a lead-free alternative, and enhancing its performance using anisotropic nanowires (NWs) structures. BTO NWs were synthesized via a two-step hydrothermal method and incorporated into a poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] matrix to fabricate a piezoelectric composite film. The resulting device demonstrated a notable increase in electrical output compared to devices based on isotropic morphology of BTO nanoparticles, exhibiting enhanced performance. These findings suggest that BTO NWs hold significant promise for applications in flexible and wearable electronics, paving the way for further advancements in sustainable energy technology.

We investigated the microstructure, crystal structure, dielectric, and elecromechanical strain properties of lead-free BaTiO₃ (BT)-modified (Bi_1/2Na_1/2)TiO₃-SrTiO₃ (BNT-ST) piezoelectric ceramics. Samples were prepared by a conventional ceramic processing route. Temperature dependent dielectric properties confirmed that a phase transition from a nonergodic relaxor to an ergodic relaxor was induced when the BT concentration reached 1.5 mol%, interestingly, where the average grain size reached a maximum value of 4.5 μm. At the same time, enhanced electromechanical strain (S_max/E_max = 600 pm/V) was obtained. It is suggested that the induced ferroelectric-relaxor phase transition by the BT modification is responsible for the enhancement of electromechanical strain in 1.5 mol% BT-modified BNT-ST ceramics.

Bulk-sized PbTiO₃ (PT), which is widely known as a high-performance ferroelectric oxide but cannot be fabricated into a monolithic ceramic due to its high c/a ratio, was successfully prepared with a high tetragonality by partially substituting Ni ions for Pb ions using a solid-state reaction method. We found that Ni-doped PT was well-fabricated as a bulk monolith with a significant c/a ratio of ~1.06. X-ray diffraction on as-sintered and crushed samples revealed that NiTiO₃ secondary phase was present at the doping level of more than 2 at.%. Scanning electron microscopic study showed that NiTiO₃ secondary phase grew on the surface of PT specimens regardless of the doping level possibly due to the evaporation of Pb during sintering. We demonstrated that an unconventional introduction of Ni ions into A-site plays a key role on the fabrication of bulk PT, though how Ni ion functions should be studied further. We expect that this study contributes to a further development of displacive ferroelectric oxides with a high c/a ratio.

ZnO nanowires were grown by hydrothermal synthesis process and piezoelectric poly vinylidenefluoride (PVDF) was then coated on top of the ZnO-nanowires by spray-coating technique. Thecomposite layer of ZnO-nanowires/PVDF was applied to an energy harvesting device based onpiezoelectric-conversion mechanism. A defined mechanical force was given to the nanogenerator device toevaluate their electric power generation characteristics, where output current density and voltage wereexamined. Electric power generation property of the ZnO-nanowires/PVDF based nanogenerator devicewas compared to that of the nanogenerator device with ZnO-nanowires as single active layer. Effect ofthe ZnO-nanowires on improvement of power generation was discussed to examine its feasibility for thenanogenerator device.

The carbon nanotube / poly-vinylidene fluoride (CNT/PVDF) composite films for the nano-generator devices were fabricated by spray coating method using the CNT/PVDF solution, which was prepared by adding PVDF pellets into the CNT dispersed N-Methyl-2-pyrroli-done (NMP) solution. The flexible CNT/PVDF composite films were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy, which revealed that the CNTs were uniformly dispersed in the PVDF matrix and thickness of the films was approximately 20 jim. Fourier transform infra-red spectra were used to investigate crystal structure of the as-spray-coated CNT/PVDF films, and we found that they revealed extremely large portion of the f3 phase PVDF. The capacitance of the CNT/PVDF films increased by adding CNTs into the PVDF matrix, and finally saturated. However, the resistance didn`t show any saturation effect in the CNT concentration range of 0- 4 wt%. Finally, the resulting nano-generator devices revealed reasonable current output after given mechanical stress.

Abstract: Carbon nanotubes (CNT) / polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric composite films for nanogenerator devices were fabricated by spray coating method. When the CNT/PVDF mixture solution passes through the spray nozzle with small diameter by the compressed nitrogen gas, electric charges are generated in the liquid by a triboelectric effect. Then randomly distributed {3 phase PVDF film could be re-oriented by the electric field resulting from the accumulated electrical charges, and might be resulted in extremely one-directionally aligned 13 phase PVDF film without additional electric field for poling. X-ray diffraction patterns were used to investigate crystal structure of the CNT/PVDF composite films. It was confirmed that they revealed extremely large portion of the f3 phase PVDF crystalline in the film. Therefore we could obtain the poled CNT/PVDF piezoelectric composite films by the spray coating method without additional poling process.