Piezoelectric sensors are widely used in accelerometers, for detecting failures in structures, and for vibration suppression systems among others. Such sensors can be manufactured in many different sizes, and packages to work in a variety of environments. The main characteristic of the piezoelectric material that allows for this effect is the conversion of mechanical to electrical energy. That ...

Due to the enhanced piezoelectric properties, excellent mechanical properties and tunable electric properties, one-dimensional (1D) piezoelectric materials have shown their promising applications in nanogenerators (NG), sensors, actuators, electronic devices etc. To present a clear view about 1D piezoelectric materials, this review mainly focuses on the characterization and optimization of the ...

A novel cantilever type piezoelectric sensing element was developed. Cost-effective and simple fabrication design allows the use of this element for various applications in the areas of biomedicine, pharmacy, environmental analysis and biosensing. This paper proposes a novel piezoelectric composite material whose basic element is PZT and a sensing platform where this material was integrated. Re...

We present a rotating-tip-based mechanical nanomanufacturing technique, referred to here as nanomilling. An atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe tip that is rotated at high speeds by out-of-phase motions of the axes of a three-axis piezoelectric actuator is used as the nanotool. By circumventing the high-compliance AFM beam and directly attaching the tip onto the piezoelectric actuator, a high-s...

(1 - x)(Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3 - xBaTiO3 has been the most studied Pb-free piezoelectric material in the last decade; however, puzzles still remain about its phase transitions, especially around the important morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). By introducing the strain glass transition concept from the ferroelastic field, it was found that the phase transition from tetragonal (T, P4bm) to rhombohedral...

In this paper, a Micro – Electrical Mechanical System (MEMS) energy harvester is developed, using the phenomenon of Piezoelectricity. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) was chosen as the piezoelectric material. A multi – d31 mode cantilever design was used with varying dimensions of cantilever, to form an array. The individual cantilevers can be either connected in series or parallel to achieve different output ...

A model for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting with a piezoelectric cantilever beam is presented. The model incorporates expressions for variable geometry, tip mass, and material constants, and allows the parameterized determination of the voltage and power produced over a purely resistive load. The model is of a lumped-element form, with the base excitation acceleration and voltage repr...

The significant inversion symmetry breaking specific to wurtzite semiconductors, and the associated spontaneous electrical polarization, lead to outstanding features such as high density of carriers at the GaN/(Al,Ga)N interface-exploited in high-power/high-frequency electronics-and piezoelectric capabilities serving for nanodrives, sensors and energy harvesting devices. Here we show that the m...

In this paper, complex potentials for the solution of two-dimensional, in-plane, linear piezoelectric boundary value problems are presented. These potentials are only valid for a special set of piezoelectric properties that have been identified as being useful in nonlinear ferroelectric constitutive laws. In contrast to more general solution procedures like the Stroh or Lekhnitskii formalisms, ...

The lead-free ferroelectric 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 - 0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BCZT) is a promising component for multifunctional multiferroics due to its excellent room temperature piezoelectric properties. Having a composition close to the polymorphic phase boundary between the orthorhombic and tetragonal phases, it deserves a case study for analysis of its potential for modern electronics applicatio...