All-Inorganic-State Fabric Lead-Free Piezoelectric Nanogenerators

Highly efficient and economical wearable piezoelectric energy harvesters are required to achieve future human-integrated self-powered electronics with stability. Herein, an all-inorganic-state fabric piezoelectric nanogenerator (FPNG) is developed for high-performance energy harvesting using a spray-coated lead-free piezoceramic layer on a glass fabric. 0.5(Ba_0.7Ca_0.3)TiO₃–0.5Ba(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O₃ (BCTZ) sol–gel solution is deposited by spray coating, which is very facile and cost-effective processing for the textile industry. It is well-annealed and crystallized on the glass fabric endurable in high-temperature processes. The BCTZ-coated glass fabric is also treated by spraying silver nanowire (AgNW) solution onto both sides of the fabric to form robust electrodes. The all-inorganic-state FPNG can generate electrical output about the voltage of ≈3 V and the current of ≈110 nA which are high-performance energy harvesting signals compared to previously reported fabric-type energy harvesters. This high-output energy harvesting results from the effective piezoelectricity of inorganic piezoceramics on the robust glass fabric. This work would open ways for future wearable self-powered electronics integrated in general textile.