Small Distortions, Big Polarization: Tetragonal BaTiO3 Nanoparticles for High-Performance Piezoelectric Nanogenerators
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Lead-free ferroelectric BaTiO3 (BTO) nanoparticles with stabilized tetragonal distortion were synthesized via a ligand-assisted sol-gel method to serve as the active piezoelectric phase in high-performance hybrid piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) operating with triboelectric synergy. XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis confirmed pseudo-cubic tetragonal BTO nanoparticle, annealed at 900°C (BTO-900, ~54nm) and well-defined tetragonal BTO annealed at 1200°C (BTO-1200, ~104nm). Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations confirmed enhanced Ti-O covalency, stronger Ti 3d-O 2p hybridization, narrower HOMO-LUMO gap, and improved dipole coherence in BTO-900, indicating superior ferroelectric polarization, piezoelectric activity, and charge retention. BTO-900-PDMS PENG device generated a high open-circuit voltage of ~100 V and stored ~29 μJ energy, and superior capacitor-charging performance of BTO-900, while the optimized BTO-1200 based device showed a higher power density of ~649 μW cm-2 and short-circuit current of ~181 μA. The superior performance of BTO-900 was attributed to enhanced defect-assisted charge trapping, interfacial polarization, and impedance-controlled charge retention. By coupling the intrinsic piezoelectric response of covalency-engineered tetragonal BTO with triboelectric charge generation at the BTO-PDMS interface, this work establishes nanoparticle size and bonding engineering as an effective route to high-output, lead-free piezoelectric nanogenerators for self-powered electronics.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Arthritis National Research Foundation, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali
Award: G3726215110
OpenAlex ID: W7221062886