2011/05/23 by Youfan Hu, Yan Zhang, Chen Xu +3 · 1 citation
Engineering · #Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials #Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies #Energy Harvesting in Wireless Networks
paper · doi:10.1021/nl201505c
openalex publication_date 2011/05/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/27
We demonstrate the first self-powered system driven by a nanogenerator (NG) that works wirelessly and independently for long-distance data transmission. The NG was made of a free cantilever beam that consisted of a five-layer structure: a flexible polymer substrate, ZnO nanowire textured films on its top and bottom surfaces, and electrodes on the surfaces. When it was strained to 0.12% at a strain rate of 3.56% S(-1), the measured output voltage reached 10 V, and the output current exceeded 0.6 μA (corresponding power density 10 mW/cm(3)). A system was built up by integrating a NG, rectification circuit, capacitor for energy storage, sensor, and RF data transmitter. Wireless signals sent out by the system were detected by a commercial radio at a distance of 5-10 m. This study proves the feasibility of using ZnO nanowire NGs for building self-powered systems, and its potential application in wireless biosensing, environmental/infrastructure monitoring, sensor networks, personal electronics, and even national security.