Effect of Growth-Temperature on Morphology and Piezoelectric Characteristics of ZnS Nanostructure

In this work, it has been demonstrated the effect of growth temperatures viz. 140 °C and 160 °C on the morphology and piezoelectric characteristics of zinc sulfide nanosheets (ZnS-NS) grown on aluminium substrates. Here, we fabricated two nanogenerator devices based on two different growth temperatures. A piezoelectric nanogenerator (PND) device was developed using Indium doped Tin Oxide (ITO) coated PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) substrate and ZnS coated Al foil as top and bottom electrodes. An increase in growth temperature has a greater influence on the aspect ratio of the ZnS-NS due to the presence of extra thermal energy leading to significant structural deformation which in turn allowed the growth temperature window for the ZnS nanosheets to be determined. The open-circuit voltage for the as-fabricated devices was ~400 mV and ~600 mV, respectively. For the first time, a methodical study was carried out in the ZnS-NS system for designing novel piezoelectric nanogenerators. Due to its simple, one-step synthesis process with low cost, and high output gain, we are very much interested to investigates the potential of a ZnS-based piezoelectric energy harvesting device that can scavenge biomechanical energy for next-generation flexible self-powered electronics devices, as well as a good replacement for ZnO nanosheets in 2D nanostructured based nanogenerator devices.