Experimental and simulation study on BCTZ-based flexible energy harvesting device filled with Ag-coated Cu particles

Abstract Introducing materials (such as carbon nanotubes and Ag nanowires, etc.) as the fillers has been verified to be an effective way to enhance the output performance of energy harvesting devices (EHDs). In this work, a (Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Ti0.9Zr0.1)O3 nanowires (BCTZ NWs)-based EHD filled with low-cost Ag-coated Cu (Cu@Ag) particles was prepared. BCTZ NWs were prepared by electrospinning and Cu@Ag particles were fabricated by chemical reduction method. Piezo force microscopy result showed that the BCTZ NWs have good micro-region piezoelectric response. The output voltage of the EHD filled with Cu@Ag particles reached 0.55 V, a little larger than that without Cu@Ag particles. Our simulation results indicated that increasing the contact between BCTZ NWs and Cu@Ag particles is the key to improving the output performance of EHD.