title: Length-dependent charge generation from vertical arrays of high-aspect-ratio ZnO nanowires.
abstract: Aqueous chemical growth of zinc oxide nanowires is a flexible and effective approach to obtain dense arrays of vertically oriented nanostructures with high aspect ratio. Herein we present a systematic study of the different synthesis parameters that influence the ZnO seed layer and thus the resulting morphological features of the free-standing vertically oriented ZnO nanowires. We obtained a homogeneous coverage of transparent conductive substrates with high-aspect-ratio nanowire arrays (length/diameter ratio of up to 52). Such nanostructured vertical arrays were examined to assess their electric and piezoelectric properties, and showed an electric charge generation upon mechanical compressive stress. The principle of energy harvesting with these nanostructured ZnO arrays was demonstrated by connecting them to an electronic charge amplifier and storing the generated charge in a series of capacitors. We found that the generated charge and the electrical behavior of the ZnO nanowires are strictly dependent on the nanowire length. We have shown the importance of controlling the morphological properties of such ZnO nanostructures for optimizing a nanogenerator device.
authors.affiliation: Center for Space Human Robotics@PoliTo, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, C.so Trento, 21, 10129 Turin (Italy); Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologie, Politecnico di Torino, C. so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin (Italy).
authors.forename: Vivian Farías
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Auras
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Motto
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stassi
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Canavese
authors.forename: Edvige
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Celasco
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bein
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Onida
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cauda
keywords: crystal growth; energy generation; nanostructures; piezoelectric properties; zinc