InGaN-based nanowires development for energy harvesting and conversion applications

Harvesting UV photons for solar energy conversion applications.

We report the synthesis and characterization of five new donor–π–spacer–acceptor dye molecules with a diphenylamine donor, fluorene–1,2,5-oxadiazole spacers and a range of acceptor/anchor groups (carboxylic acid 1, cyanoacrylic acid 2 and 3, alcohol 4 and cyano 5) to facilitate electron injection from the excited dye into the TiO2 photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Detailed photo...

Energy Harvesting Using Piezoelectric Nanowires-A Correspondence on "Energy Harvesting Using Nanowires?" by Alexe et al

We have demonstrated an innovative approach to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy by piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowire (NW) arrays. The mechanism of the nanogenerator (NG) relies on the coupling of piezoelectric and semiconducting dual properties of ZnO as well as the elegant rectifying function of the Schottky barrier formed between the metal tip and the NW. Alexe et al. have rec...

Electrostatic Conversion for Vibration Energy Harvesting

Template-Assisted Hydrothermal Growth of Aligned Zinc Oxide Nanowires for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Applications

A flexible and robust piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) based on a polymer-ceramic nanocomposite structure has been successfully fabricated via a cost-effective and scalable template-assisted hydrothermal synthesis method. Vertically aligned arrays of dense and uniform zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) with high aspect ratio (diameter ∼250 nm, length ∼12 μm) were grown within nanoporous polycarbo...

Analytical model of Graphene based antenna for energy harvesting applications

Recent advances in fabrication and characterization of nanomaterials have led to the intelligible applications of such nanomaterials in the next generation flexible electronics and the highly efficient photovoltaic devices. Nanotechnology has been used in thin film photovoltaic devices, and is considered as one of the most promising research area in power harvesting applications. Excellent elec...