Abstract
ZnO nanostructure based energy harvesting devices (ZnO nanogenerator) were fabricated using ZnO nanorods with the surface modified using a polyelectrolyte assembly comprising bi-layers of Polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride and Polystyrene sulfonate. The peak open-circuit voltage device characteristics and power delivered across a load increased in relation to the number of bi-layers in the polyelectrolyte deposition. At the highest loading of polyelectrolyte the energy harvesters generated a peak power density of 426 µW cm−2 and 1 V peak open-circuit voltage at a peak tip acceleration of 50 g. This compares to 35 µW cm−2 without polyelectrolyte. We relate this significant enhancement in device performance to the screening of mobile carriers due to an interaction of the polar polyelectrolyte materials with the surface of the ZnO nanostructures. It is proposed that the adsorption of the polyelectrolyte on the ZnO interacts with the surface defects and reduces the rate of screening and trapping of carriers leading to increased performance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Greene LE, Yuhas BD, Law M, Zitoun D, Yang P (2006) Solution-grown zinc oxide nanowires. Inorg Chem 45:7535–7543
Briscoe J, Stewart M, Vopson M, Cain M, Weaver PM, Dunn S (2012) Nanostructured p-n junctions for kinetic-to-electrical energy conversion. Adv Energy Mater 2:1261–1268
Jalali N, Woolliams P, Stewart M, Weaver PM, Cain MG, Dunn S, Briscoe J (2014) Improved performance of p–n junction-based ZnO nanogenerators through CuSCN-passivation of ZnO nanorods. J Mater Chem A 2:10945
Hu Y, Lin L, Zhang Y, Wang ZL (2012) Replacing a battery by a nanogenerator with 20 V output. Adv Mater 24:110–114
Janotti A, Van de Walle CG (2009) Fundamentals of zinc oxide as a semiconductor. Reports Prog Phys 72:126501
Hatch SM, Briscoe J, Sapelkin A, Gillin WP, Gilchrist JB, Ryan MP, Heutz S, Dunn S (2013) Influence of anneal atmosphere on ZnO-nanorod photoluminescent and morphological properties with self-powered photodetector performance. J Appl Phys 113:204501
Pham TT, Lee KY, Lee J-H, Kim K-H, Shin K-S, Gupta MK, Kumar B, Kim S-W (2013) Reliable operation of a nanogenerator under ultraviolet light via engineering piezoelectric potential. Energy Environ Sci 6:841
Briscoe J, Jalali N, Woolliams P, Stewart M, Weaver PM, Cain M, Dunn S (2013) Measurement techniques for piezoelectric nanogenerators. Energy Environ Sci 6:3035
Wang Y, Wang S, Xiao M, Han D, Hickner MA, Meng Y (2013) Layer-by-layer self-assembly of PDDA/PSS-SPFEK composite membrane with low vanadium permeability for vanadium redox flow battery. RSC Adv 3:15467
Feuz L, Höök F, Reimhult E (2012) Design of intelligent surface modifications and optimal liquid handling for nanoscale bioanalytical sensors intelligent surfaces in biotechnology. Wiley, New York, pp 71–122
Mehrotra S, Hunley SC, Pawelec KM, Zhang L, Lee I, Baek S, Chan C (2010) Cell adhesive behavior on thin polyelectrolyte multilayers: cells attempt to achieve homeostasis of its adhesion energy. Langmuir 26:12794–12802
Van de Steeg HGM, Cohen Stuart MA, De Keizer A, Bijsterbosch B (1992) Polyelectrolyte adsorption: a subtle balance of forces. Langmuir 8:2538–2546
Briscoe J, Jalali N, Loh L, Shoaee S, Wooliams P, Stewart M, Cain M, Weaver P M, Durrant J R and Dunn S (2013) ZnO Nanostructured diodes: enhancing energy generation through scavenging vibration MRS Proc. 1556: mrss13–1556–w04–01
Knoll W, Advincula RC (2013) Functional polymer films. Wiley, New York
Andelman D, Joanny J-F (2000) Polyelectrolyte adsorption. Comptes Rendus l’Académie des Sci-Ser IV-Phys 1:1153–1162
Lao CS, Park M-C, Kuang Q, Deng Y, Sood AK, Polla DL, Wang ZL (2007) Giant enhancement in UV response of ZnO nanobelts by polymer surface-functionalization. J Am Chem Soc 129:12096–12097
Lua Y-Y, Yang L, Pew CA, Zhang F, Fillmore WJJ, Bronson RT, Sathyapalan A, Savage PB, Whittaker JD, Davis RC, Linford MR (2005) Polyelectrolytes as new matrices for secondary ion mass spectrometry. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 16:1575–1582
Dodoo S, Balzer BN, Hugel T, Laschewsky A, von Klitzing R (2013) Effect of ionic strength and layer number on swelling of polyelectrolyte multilayers in water vapour. Soft Mater 11:157–164
Shin YW, Roberts JE, Santore M (2001) the influence of charge variation on the adsorbed configuration of a model cationic oligomer onto colloidal silica. J Colloid Interface Sci 244:190–199
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union. The work is also supported by the UK’s National Measurement Office, BIS, UK Government.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jalali, N., Briscoe, J., Tan, Y.Z. et al. ZnO nanorod surface modification with PDDA/PSS Bi-layer assembly for performance improvement of ZnO piezoelectric energy harvesting devices. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 73, 544–549 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-014-3512-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-014-3512-4