Lin Wang
A pyroelectric nanogenerator is an energy harvesting device converting the external thermal energy into an electrical energy by using nano-structured pyroelectric materials. Usually, harvesting thermoelectric energy mainly relies on the Seebeck effect that utilizes a temperature difference between two ends of the device for driving the diffusion of charge carriers. However, in an environment that the temperature is spatially uniform without a gradient, such as in the outdoors, the Seebeck effect cannot be used to harvest thermal energy from a time-dependent temperature fluctuation. In this case, the pyroelectric effect has to be the choice, which is about the spontaneous polarization in certain anisotropic solids as a result of temperature fluctuation. The first pyroelectric nanogenerator was introduced by Prof. Zhong Lin Wang at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2012. By harvesting the waste heat energy, this new type of nanogenerator has the potential applications such as wireless sensors, temperature imaging, medical diagnostics, and personal electronics.