Stacked mechanical nanogenerator comprising piezoelectric semiconducting nanostructures and Schottky conductive contacts

A stacked electric power generator, comprising:

• a. a first conductive layer having a first surface, a plurality of semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures extending upwardly from the first surface;
• b. a second conductive layer having a second surface and disposed parallel to the first conductive layer so that the second surface faces the first surface of the first conductive layer, a plurality of conductive nanostructures depending downwardly from the second surface,
• c. a plurality of intermediate conductive layers disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, each intermediate conductive layer having an downwardly-facing surface facing the first conductive layer and an upwardly-facing surface facing the second conductive layer, a plurality of semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures extending upwardly from each upwardly-facing surface and a plurality of conductive nanostructures depending downwardly from the downwardly facing surface,
• the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer and each of the plurality of intermediate conductive layers spaced apart so at a distance so that when a force is applied to at least one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures engages at least one of the plurality of conductive nanostructures so that the at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures bends, thereby generating a potential difference across the at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures and also thereby forming a Schottky barrier between the at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures and the at least one of the conductive nanostructures.

A method of making an electric power generator, comprising the actions of:

• a. creating a plurality of generating units, each generating unit created by:
• i. growing a plurality of semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures extending upwardly from a first surface of a first conductive layer;
• and
• ii. growing a plurality of conductive nanostructures depending downwardly from a second surface of the first conductive layer, thereby creating a generating unit;
• and
• b. stacking a plurality of generating units to form stacked generating units so that each second conductive layer of a first generating unit is spaced apart from the first conductive layer of a second generating unit at a distance so that when a force is applied to at least one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures engages at least one of the plurality of conductive nanostructures so that the at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures bends, thereby generating a potential difference across the at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures and also thereby forming a Schottky barrier between the at least one of the semiconducting piezoelectric nanostructures and the at least one of the conductive nanostructures.

A method of making a generator, comprising the actions of:

• a. applying a layer of metal film on a conductive substrate;
• b. annealing the metal film at a preselected temperature to form a textured metal film;
• c. growing a plurality of aligned piezoelectric semiconducting nanowires from the textured metal film;
• d. infiltrating a layer of an insulative and elastic polymer into the piezoelectric semiconducting nanowires;
• e. etching the layer of insulative and elastic polymer so as to expose tips of the piezoelectric semiconducting nanowires;
• and
• f. depositing a metal layer onto the layer of insulative and elastic polymer so that the metal layer is in contact with the tips of the piezoelectric semiconducting nanowires.