Modelling and simulation of a vertically integrated zinc oxide piezoelectric nanogenerator

Abstract

Due to recent developments in energy harvesting, there has been a subsequent rise in MEMS (Micro electromechanical systems) powered by low-frequency vibrations in the environment through effective transduction procedures like piezoelectricity. In this paper, a vertically integrated single piezoelectric Zinc Oxide nanowire-based system is modelled for energy harvesting applications. To reinforce this development, different structures of nanogenerators were modelled and simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3 software for their performance upgrades. It was developed to analyse the compression and bending effect of the nanowire. To compare and validate the induced piezoelectric output, mathematical equations were derived using piezoelectric constitutive equations. Moreover, the voltage output of the nanowire under a constant lateral force was analysed varying with the nanowire dimensions in terms of aspect ratio. The analysis results have shown that the compression of ZnO nanowire gives more output voltage compared to the bending of the nanowire for the same nanogenerator. The theoretical and simulation results also prove that the length of the nanowire does not influence the piezoelectric potential in a lateral bent nanowire.