Fabrication of silver-doped zinc oxide nanorods piezoelectric nanogenerator on cotton fabric to utilize and optimize the charging system

Textile-based piezoelectric nanogenerator generates electrical energy from human motion. Here a novel type of textile-based piezoelectric nanogenerator is reported which is fabricated using the growth of silver-doped zinc oxide on carton fabric. Along with the optical and structural characterization of silver-doped zinc oxide nanorods, the electrical characterization was also performed for silver-doped zinc oxide piezoelectric nanogenerator. The silver-doped zinc oxide piezoelectric nanogenerator was found to generate three times greater power compared to undoped zinc oxide piezoelectric nanogenerator. By applying external mechanical force of 3 kgf and 31 MΩ of load resistance, the silver-doped zinc oxide piezoelectric nanogenerator generated an output power density of 1.45 mW cm−2. The effect of load resistance and load capacitor was determined and optimum values were calculated. The maximum output power was observed at a load resistance of 31 MΩ. The silver-doped zinc oxide piezoelectric nanogenerator was utilized to charge load capacitors and found that maximum energy could be stored at optimum load capacitance of 22 nF in 600 s (1800 cycles). This research may provide the opportunity to design high-output textile-based nanogenerators for practical applications like powering portable devices and sensors.