NanoPyroMat · ZnS Wurtzite Nanotextured Ceramic Materials for Pyroelectric Energy Harvesting

ZnS Wurtzite Nanotextured Ceramic Materials for Pyroelectric Energy Harvesting

The topic of this research was pyroelectric materials, and in particular the hexagonal, wurtzite phase of zinc sulfide, which is among the structurally simplest of pyroelectric materials. The NanoPyroMat project examined the development of wurtzite-based ZnS ceramics and explored the pyroelectric potential of this cost-effective and lead-free material for potential use as an ambient energy harvesting material. One key property of all pyroelectric materials is that they exhibit temperature dependent spontaneous polarisation and can generate power from temperature fluctuations. This means they have the potential to “harvest” energy and produce electricity based on either naturally or artificially occurring temperature changes, such as changes in ambient temperature, or in industrial settings. Practically, they represent a potential route to technologies that can convert thermal fluctuation into electrical energy by using a pyroelectric device that generates voltage when cyclically heated up or cooled down. At a time of climate emergency and the scarcity of fossil fuels, pyroelectric energy harvesting could be the right, “green” methodology to rescue some of the enormous quantities of energy wasted as heat. In the United States, more than 50% of the energy generated is lost in this way each year; in Europe, on the other hand, more heat is wasted annually than is needed to heat all of the buildings in the EU. Looking at this from the perspective of pyroelectric materials, all this lost heat represents a potential abundant and omnipresent source of free energy, which is currently being lost from the energy cycle. Enhancing energy efficiency solutions would help citizens both in economic (lower electricity bills) and ecological (clean, green energy) terms. The first objective of the project was to tailor a simple synthesis method for nanocrystalline wurtzite ZnS (w-ZnS) production, which would be easy to scale-up and produce abundant precursor material for production of w-ZnS ceramics. This was successfully realized with modified co-precipitation synthesis. The second objective was to fabricate w-ZnS dense ceramics while suppressing the grain growth at the same time. Finally, the third objective was to completely characterize both the precursor material and the ceramics and provide useful feedback to optimize their fabrication conditions. The pyroelectric potential of the resultant ceramics was investigated through the creation of a small device, a so called “pyro-cell”. A secondary goal of this project was to enable the professional development of the researcher, with special attention paid to the continuous development of their transferable skills and competences, in particular leadership, communication and networking.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз