Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MSc)

Department

Mathematics

Program Name/Specialization

Mathematics for Science and Finance

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

First Advisor

Dr. Roderick Melnik

Advisor Role

Advisor

Second Advisor

Dr. Manuele Santoprete

Advisor Role

Advisor

Abstract

Materials at the nanoscale have different chemical, structural, and optoelectrical properties compared to their bulk counterparts. As a result, such materials, called nanomaterials, exhibit observable differences in certain physical phenomena. One such resulting phenomenon called the piezoelectric effect has played a crucial role in miniature self-powering electronic devices called nanogenerators which are fabricated by using nanostructures, such as nanowires, nanorods, and nanofilms. These devices are capable of harvesting electrical energy by inducing mechanical strain on the individual nanostructures. Electrical energy created in this manner does not have environmental limitations. In this thesis, important coupled effects, such as the nonlinear piezoelectric effect of a semiconducting wurtzite ZnO nanowire are studied by solving a time-dependent thermo-electromechanical model. For the examples considered here, the mathematical model consists of a system of fully-coupled nonlinear partial differential equations, and it is solved by using a variational formulation based on finite element representation. The numerical solution to this model is compared with the results obtained for the linear model of piezoelectric effect. The main focus has been given to the results from finite element analysis as a generalized model of the ZnO nanowire in order to understand its characteristics at an unperturbed state.

Convocation Year

2018

Download

Share

COinS