A New Perspective on Energy Harvesting Nanowires: The Role of Chemistry and Structure of Nanowires

能量收集纳米线的新视角：纳米线化学和结构的作用

• 批准号: 0926819
• 负责人: Reza Shahbazian- Yassar
• 金额: $ 28万
• 依托单位: Michigan Technological University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0926819&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: New; Perspective; Energy; Harvesting; Nanowires

The development of self-powered electronic devices is of great interest to worldwide researchers and high-tech industries. Recent investigations show that zinc oxide nanowires can function as energy harvesting modules to power nano/micro-scale devices. These nanowires are able to convert the mechanical energy to electrical output due to their semiconductor and piezoelectric properties. Currently, the underlying nanoscale mechanisms by which chemical composition and structural features in ZnO nanowires affect the output electrical signal are unknown. The proposed research aims to fill this gap. The electrical and mechanical coupling of ZnO wires will be studied by straining the nanowires using a novel force and electrical measurement system (AFM/STM) inside the transmission electron microscope (TEM) where the microstructure of ZnO nanowires can be simultaneously monitored in high resolution. The new understanding on this phenomenon is not limited to ZnO nanotubes, and can be extended to other energy harvesting materials. The proposed research has the potential to convert mechanical motion energy (such as body motion, muscle stretching, blood pressure), vibration energy (such as acoustic/ultrasonic wave), and hydraulic energy (such as flow of body fluids including blood and contraction of blood vessels) into electric energy. This means that electronic devices such as pacemakers or laptops can be powered up without the need to recharge their batteries. A week-long demonstration of energy harvesting experiments in TEM has been planned to impact under-represented minority and economically-disadvantaged K-12 students in the state of Michigan. The research results will be used as a case study in a new technical course, which the PI has developed to bring senior undergraduate and graduate students from electrical engineering, materials science, physics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering into the classroom. The videos of microscopy experiments will also be made available to the community via the World Wide Web.

全球研究人员和高科技行业的自动电子设备的开发引起了极大的兴趣。最近的研究表明，氧化锌纳米线可以用作能量收集模块，以供电纳米/微尺度设备。由于其半导体和压电性能，这些纳米线能够将机械能转换为电输出。目前，ZnO纳米线中的化学成分和结构特征影响输出电信号的基础纳米级机制尚不清楚。拟议的研究旨在填补这一空白。通过使用新型的力和电气测量系统（AFM/STM）在透射电子显微镜（TEM）内进行纳米线来拧紧纳米线，其中将研究ZnO电线的电气和机械耦合，其中可以同时监测ZnO纳米线的微观结构。对这种现象的新理解不仅限于ZnO纳米管，并且可以扩展到其他能源收集材料。拟议的研究具有将机械运动能量（例如身体运动，肌肉拉伸，血压），振动能量（例如声学/超声波）和液压能（例如体液流动（包括血液和血管的血液收缩）的流动）转换为电能的潜力。这意味着可以在不需要充电电池的情况下加电等电子设备（例如起搏器或笔记本电脑）。计划在TEM中进行长达一周的能源收集实验，以影响密歇根州代表性不足的少数群体和经济偏爱的K-12学生。该研究结果将在新的技术课程中用作案例研究，PI已开发出该研究结果将来自电气工程，材料科学，物理，化学和机械工程学的高级本科生和研究生带入课堂。显微镜实验的视频也将通过万维网提供给社区。