Flexible Piezoelectric PMN–PT Nanowire-BasedNanocomposite and Device.

Piezoelectricnanocomposites represent a unique class of materialsthat synergize the advantageous features of polymers and piezoelectricnanostructures and have attracted extensive attention for the applicationsof energy harvesting and self-powered sensing recently. Currently,most of the piezoelectric nanocomposites were synthesized using piezoelectricnanostructures with relatively low piezoelectric constants, resultingin lower output currents and lower output voltages. Here, we reporta synthesis of piezoelectric (1 – x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3(PMN–PT) nanowire-based nanocomposite withsignificantly improved performances for energy harvesting and self-poweredsensing. With the high piezoelectric constant (d33) andthe unique hierarchical structure of the PMN–PT nanowires,the PMN–PT nanowire-based nanocomposite demonstrated an outputvoltage up to 7.8 V and an output current up to 2.29 μA (currentdensity of 4.58 μA/cm2); this output voltage is morethan double that of other reported piezoelectric nanocomposites, andthe output current is at least 6 times greater. The PMN–PTnanowire-based nanocomposite also showed a linear relationship ofoutput voltage versus strain with a high sensitivity. The enhancedperformance and the flexibility of the PMN–PT nanowire-basednanocomposite make it a promising building block for energy harvestingand self-powered sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]