Structural of BCTZ nanowires and high performance BCTZ-based nanogenerator for biomechanical energy harvesting

Owing to its excellent piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties, (Ba,Ca)(Ti,Zr)O3 (BCTZ) family is considered as one of the most promising piezoelectric materials to replace the lead-based piezoelectrics, such as Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 et al.. In this study, a BCTZ nanowires (NWs) based piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) was fabricated. BCTZ NWs were prepared by an electrospinning technique. The NG achieved an excellent piezoelectric performance with a maximum open-circuit voltage of 0.65 V and short-circuit current of 2.2 nA by bending periodically. Furthermore, the NG obtained a maximum voltage of 2.2 V and current of 90 nA by tapping it. Results indicate that the lead-free BCTZ has a huge application potential in biomechanical energy harvesting.