High-Performance Piezoelectric Nanogenerators via Imprinted Sol-Gel BaTiO Nanopillar Array.

We report high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) with nanoimprinted sol-gel BaTiO (BTO) nanopillar array polarized under high electric field and ultraviolet. The PENGs fabricated using this method demonstrate greatly enhanced output voltage of ∼10 V and current density of ∼1.2 μA cm, respectively, in comparison to that of flat PENG. Further, the PENG demonstrates uniform output characteristics over the entire device area thanks to uniform nanoimprint pillar array. The approach introduced here is simple, effective, reliable, and reproducible way to fabricate high-performance sol-gel-based PENGs and electronic devices.