Nanogenerator takes mechanical energy, changes it to current.(BUSINESS TRENDS)(Brief article)

Advanced Materials & Processes, June, 2007

A prototype nanometer-scale generator that produces continuous direct-current electricity by harvesting mechanical energy from such environmental sources as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibration, or blood flow, has reportedly been built at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Based on arrays of vertically-aligned zinc oxide nanowires that move inside a novel "zig-zag" plate electrode, the nanogenerators could provide a new way to power nanoscale devices without batteries or other external power sources.

The nanogenerators take advantage of the unique coupled piezoelectric and semiconducting properties of zinc oxide nanostructures, which produce small electrical charges when they are flexed. Fabrication begins with growing an array of vertically...

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