Lead free ferroelectric-semiconductor composite for high performance near-room-temperature pyro energy harvesting application

Lead-free pyroelectrics are indispensable for pyroelectric generators to extract energy from low-gradient waste-heat to power portable electronic devices due to the environmental concern. High pyroelectric response near-room-temperature is essential for high-performance energy harvesters, which is unfortunately limited to lead-free ferroelectrics. Herein, BaTiO₃-based ferroelectric - ZnO semiconductor composites were reported to exhibit superior pyro energy harvesting characteristics near-room-temperature. The role of ZnO on the improved ferroelectric characteristics are elucidated through the impedance and Rayleigh analysis. Notably, more than 100% enhancement in pyroelectric coefficient (7250 μC/m²K) is displayed by the composite at 45 ^oC, making it a suitable candidate for pyroelectric energy harvester. The composite showed figure of merit of pyro energy harvesting F_E= 3.032 kJ/m³K² which is the highest near-room-temperature among the reported results.

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