School of Material Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, USA.
Adv Mater. 2011 Jan 4;23(1):84-9. doi: 10.1002/adma.201003161.
We present a new approach for fabricating flexible fiber nanogenerators (FNGs) that can be used for smart shirts, flexible electronics, and medical applications. These FNGs are based on carbon fibers that are covered cylindrically by textured zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. Once subjected to uni-compression by applying a pressure, the cylindrical ZnO thin film is under a compressive strain, resulting in a macroscopic piezopotential across its inner and exterior surfaces owing to the textured structure of the film, which is the driving force for generating an electric current in the external load. Using such a structure, an output peak voltage of 3.2 V and average current density of 0.15 μA cm(-2) are demonstrated. The FNGs rely on air pressure, so that it can work in a non-contact mode in cases of rotating tires, flowing air/liquid, and even in blood vessels. Pressure-driven FNGs added to a syringe show potential to harvest energy in blood vessels, gas pipes, and oil pipes, as long as there is a fluctuation in pressure (or turbulence). Heart-pulse driven FNGs can serve as ultrasensitive sensors for monitoring the behavior of the human heart, which may possibly be applied to medical diagnostics as sensors and measurement tools.
我们提出了一种新的方法来制造柔性纤维纳米发电机（FNG），可用于智能衬衫、柔性电子产品和医疗应用。这些 FNG 基于碳纤维，碳纤维被圆柱形纹理氧化锌（ZnO）薄膜覆盖。一旦受到单轴压缩施加压力，圆柱形 ZnO 薄膜受到压缩应变，由于薄膜的纹理结构，在其内外表面之间产生宏观压电势，这是在外负载中产生电流的驱动力。使用这种结构，可展示出 3.2 V 的输出峰值电压和 0.15 μA cm(-2) 的平均电流密度。FNG 依赖于空气压力，因此它可以在旋转轮胎、流动的空气/液体甚至在血管中以非接触模式工作。添加到注射器中的压力驱动 FNG 显示出在血管、气管和输油管道中收集能量的潜力，只要有压力（或湍流）波动。由心跳驱动的 FNG 可用作监测人体心脏行为的超灵敏传感器，可能作为传感器和测量工具应用于医疗诊断。
