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Research Article

Flexoelectricity-enhanced photovoltaic effect in trapezoid-shaped NaNbO3 nanotube array composites

Fang Yu1,2, Junyuan Tian2,3, Fengying Jiang1,2, Yunjie Liu1,2, Chaohai Li1,2, Chengwei Wang2,3, Zhong Lin Wang2,3,4( ), Kailiang Ren1,2,3( )
Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micronano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China
School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA
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Graphical Abstract

A much improved flexoelectric coefficient and flexoelectric-enhanced photovoltaic effect are shown in trapezoid-shaped NaNbO3 nanotube array composites.

Abstract

In this work, we successfully prepared vertically aligned NaNbO3 nanotube (NN-NT) with trapezoidal shapes, in which the orthorhombic and monoclinic phases coexisted. According to the structure analysis, the NN-NT/epoxy composite film had excellent flexoelectric properties due to the lattice distortion caused by defects and irregular shape. The flexoelectric effect is the greatest in the vertical direction in the flexible NN-NT/epoxy composite film, and the flexoelectric coefficient ( μ12′) is 2.77 × 10−8 C·m−1, which is approximately 5-fold higher than that of the pure epoxy film. The photovoltaic current of the NN-NT/epoxy composite film increased from 39.9 to 71.8 nA·cm−2 in the direction of spontaneous polarization when the sample was bent upward due to the flexoelectricity-enhanced photovoltaic (FPV) effect. The flexoelectric effect of the NN-NT/epoxy composite film could modulate the photovoltaic response by increasing it by 80% or reducing it to 65% of the original value. This work provides a new idea for further exploration in efficient and lossless ferroelectric memory devices.

Keywords

photovoltaic effectflexoelectric effectflexoelectricity-enhanced photovoltaic (FPV) effecttrapezoid NaNbO3 nanotube (NN-NT) arrayNN-NT/epoxy composite film

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 9,
September 2023
Pages 11914-11924
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-5854-0
Cite this article:
Yu F, Tian J, Jiang F, et al. Flexoelectricity-enhanced photovoltaic effect in trapezoid-shaped NaNbO3 nanotube array composites. Nano Research, 2023, 16(9): 11914-11924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5854-0
Topics:
Photonic devices
Part of a topical collection:
Nineth Nano Research Award

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Received: 25 February 2023
Revised: 28 April 2023
Accepted: 19 May 2023
Published: 27 July 2023
© Tsinghua University Press 2023
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