Pyroelectric Nanogenerators for Driving Wireless Sensors

We demonstrate a pyroelectric nanogenerator (PENG) based on a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) film, which has a pyroelectric coefficient of about −80 nC/cm2K. For a temperature change of 45 K at a rate of 0.2 K/s, the output open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density of the PENG reached 22 V and 171 nA/cm2, respectively, corresponding to a maximum power density of 0.215 mW/cm3. A detailed theory was developed for understanding the high output voltage of PENG. A single electrical output pulse can directly drive a liquid crystal display (LCD) for longer than 60 s. A Li-ion battery was charged by the PENG at different working frequencies, which was used to drive a green light-emitting diode (LED). The demonstrated PENG shows potential applications in wireless sensors.