Nanowires: Scalable Synthesis of Morphotropic Phase Boundary Lead Zirconium Titanate Nanowires for Energy Harvesting (Adv. Mater. 45/2014)

Piezoelectric nanocomposites are mechanically robust and flexible, and can be utilized in harvesting energy from the environment and sensing at the nanoscale. On page 7547, H. A. Sodano and co-workers demonstrate a high-efficiency and low-cost hydrothermal method to grow piezoelectric lead zirconium titanate nanowires at the morphotropic phase boundary. These nanowires are an excellent candidate for energy-harvesting and sensing devices due to their increased performance over existing piezoelectric nanowires.