Fabrication of lead-free Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 nanoparticles and the application in flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator

Recently, flexible nanogenerators have attracted much attention due to the continuous demand of portable electronic devices. Thus, in our present work, a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator (pNG) was fabricated by mixing 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 nanoparticles (BCTZ NPs) and a PDMS polymer matrix. The flexible device exhibited excellent performance with maximum open-circuit voltage of 0.6 V and short-circuit current of 7.5 nA. BCTZ NPs were prepared by a reaction between a metallic salt and a metallic oxide in a solution of composite-hydroxide eutectic. XRD pattern showed BCTZ NPs to have pure perovskite structure. In this paper, the structure, morphology of the BCTZ NPs, and electric property of the BCTZ-based pNG were systematically studied. With the advantages of small-size, environmentally friendly, high flexibility, and high-sensitivity to external vibration, BCTZ will open up a range of new applications.