Novel piezoelectric paper based on SbSI nanowires

A novel piezoelectric paper based on antimony sulfoiodide (SbSI) nanowires is reported. The composite of tough sonochemically produced SbSI nanowires (with lateral dimensions 10–100 nm and length up to several micrometers) with very flexible cellulose leads to applicable, elastic material suitable to use in fabrication of, for example, piezoelectric nanogenerators. For mechanical energy harvesting, cellulose/SbSI nanocomposite may be used. Due to its high values of electromechanical coefficient (k33 = 0.9) and piezoelectric coefficient (d33 = 1 × 10−9 C/N), SbSI is a very attractive material for such devices. The preliminary investigations of a simple cellulose/SbSI nanogenerator for shock pressure (p = 3 MPa) and sound excitation (f = 175 Hz, Lp = 90 dB) allowed to determine its open circuit voltage 2.5 V and 24 mV, respectively. For a load resistance equal to source impedance (ZS = 2.90(11) MΩ), maximum output power density (PL = 41.5 nW/cm3 for 0.05-mm-thick sheet of this composite) of the cellulose/SbSI nanogenerator was observed. Cellulose/SbSI piezoelectric paper may also be useful to construct gas nanosensors and actuators.