Ultrahigh-power-density flexible piezoelectric energy harvester based on freestanding ferroelectric oxide thin films

Flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators are emerging as a promising solution for powering next-generation flexible electronics by converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. However, traditional ferroelectric ceramics, despite their excellent piezoelectric properties, lack flexibility; while piezoelectric polymers, although highly flexible, have low piezoelectricity. The quest to develop materials that combine high piezoelectricity with exceptional flexibility has thus become a research focus. Herein, we present a breakthrough in this field with the fabrication of freestanding (111)-oriented PbZr<sub>0.52</sub>Ti<sub>0.48</sub>O<sub>3</sub> single crystalline thin films, which exhibit remarkable flexibility and a high converse piezoelectric coefficient (~585 pm/V). This is achieved through water-soluble sacrificial layer to relieve substrate clamping and controlling the crystal orientation to further enhance the piezoelectric response. Our nanogenerators, constructed using these freestanding nanoscale membranes, demonstrate a record-high output power density (~63.5 mW/cm<sup>3</sup>), excellent flexibility (with a strain tolerance >3.4%), and superior mechanical stability in cycling tests (>60,000 cycles). These advancements pave the way for high-performance, flexible electronic devices utilizing ferroelectric oxide thin films.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-04-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58386-1
Citations
39
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
26.29

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article

Ultrahigh-power-density flexible piezoelectric energy harvester based on freestanding ferroelectric oxide thin films

Chao Zhou, Jun Wei, Shiqing Deng, Lijun Wu et al.
39 citations
Nature Communications
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
26.29
article

Ultrahigh-power-density flexible piezoelectric energy harvester based on freestanding ferroelectric oxide thin films

Chao Zhou, Jun Wei, Shiqing Deng, Lijun Wu, Jingjing Luo, Sujit Das, Xueqiang Qi, Yangyang Si, Zuhuang Chen, Zhongqi Ren, Suzhu Yu, Peike Wang, Ao Yin, Jinyang Li, Jun Chen, Haipeng Liu, Yimei Zhu, Junda Shao, Jingxuan Li, Tao Wang
article en
39 citations

Abstract

Flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators are emerging as a promising solution for powering next-generation flexible electronics by converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. However, traditional ferroelectric ceramics, despite their excellent piezoelectric properties, lack flexibility; while piezoelectric polymers, although highly flexible, have low piezoelectricity. The quest to develop materials that combine high piezoelectricity with exceptional flexibility has thus become a research focus. Herein, we present a breakthrough in this field with the fabrication of freestanding (111)-oriented PbZr<sub>0.52</sub>Ti<sub>0.48</sub>O<sub>3</sub> single crystalline thin films, which exhibit remarkable flexibility and a high converse piezoelectric coefficient (~585 pm/V). This is achieved through water-soluble sacrificial layer to relieve substrate clamping and controlling the crystal orientation to further enhance the piezoelectric response. Our nanogenerators, constructed using these freestanding nanoscale membranes, demonstrate a record-high output power density (~63.5 mW/cm<sup>3</sup>), excellent flexibility (with a strain tolerance >3.4%), and superior mechanical stability in cycling tests (>60,000 cycles). These advancements pave the way for high-performance, flexible electronic devices utilizing ferroelectric oxide thin films.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (US), Harbin Institute of Technology (CN), Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IN), University of Science and Technology Beijing (CN)
U.S. Department of Energy, Indian Institute of Science, Salt Science Research Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education, India, Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
26.29
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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