Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences 99, Issue 1 (2022) 17-27 17 Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences Journal homepage: https://semarakilmu.com.my/journals/index.php/fluid_mechanics_thermal_sciences/index ISSN: 2289-7879 Effects of Thermal Annealing on The Morphology and Structural Characteristics of Zinc Oxide Nanopowders for Triboelectric Nanogenerator Applications Dayana Kamaruzaman 1,2 , Mohamad Hafiz Mamat 1,3,* , Nurul Izzati Kamal Ariffin 1 , A Shamsul Rahimi A Subki 1,4 , Mohd Hanapiah Abdullah 5 , Norfarariyanti Parimon 6 , Muhamad Kamil Yaakob 7 , Mohd Firdaus Malek 3 , Itreesh Basha Shameem Banu 8 , Nagamalai Vasimalai 8 , Suriani Abu Bakar 9 , Azmi Mohamed 9 , Mohd Khairul Ahmad 10 , Mohamad Rusop Mahmood 1,3 1 NANO-ElecTronic Centre (NET), School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 2 School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Terengganu, Kampus Dungun, 23000 Dungun, Terengganu, Malaysia 3 NANO-SciTech Lab (NST), Centre for Functional Materials and Nanotechnology, Institute of Science (IOS), Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 4 Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia 5 Centre for Electrical Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, 13500 Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 6 Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia 7 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 8 School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science & Technology, Vandalur, Chennai 600 048, India 9 Nanotechnology Research Centre, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Malaysia 10 Microelectronic and Nanotechnology-Shamsuddin Research Centre, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja, Malaysia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 5 April 2022 Received in revised form 15 July 2022 Accepted 28 July 2022 Available online 24 August 2022 The influence of thermal annealing on the surface morphologies and structural characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanopowders synthesized via the solution immersion method for triboelectric nanogenerator applications is reported in this paper. The ZnO nanopowders were thermally treated at different temperatures of annealing in the ranges between 300C to 700C for 1 hour, and their surface morphologies and structural properties were studied using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The ZnO nanopowders have a polycrystalline, hexagonal wurtzite structure and are composed of ZnO nanoparticles and hexagonal nanorods. ZnO based tribolectric nanogenerators were fabricated with these nanopowders and their performance was assessed in terms of the output voltage. It is found that the ZnO based triboelectric nanogenerator fabricated with ZnO nanopowders annealed at 500C has superior performance compared with the other nanogenerators, with an average output voltage of 1.95 V. This corresponds to a fourfold increase in output voltage relative to that of the ZnO based triboelectric nanogenerator fabricated with as-deposited ZnO nanopowders. In conclusion, thermal annealing significantly influences particle size and * Corresponding author. E-mail address: mhmamat@uitm.edu.my https://doi.org/10.37934/arfmts.99.1.1727