Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects 17 (2019) 148–184 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nanoso Multicomponent nanostructured materials and interfaces for efficient piezoelectricity Aminur Rashid Chowdhury a , Jared Jaksik a , Istiak Hussain a , Rodolfo Longoria III a , Omar Faruque b , Federico Cesano c , Domenica Scarano c , Jason Parsons a , M. Jasim Uddin a,∗ a Department of Chemistry, Photonic and Energy Research Laboratory, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA b Center for Advanced Power System, Florida State University, 600 W College Ave, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA c Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 7, Torino TO, 10125, Italy highlights • Recent development of multicom- ponent nanostructured piezoelectric materials. • Dimension-based review of multi- component nanostructured piezoelec- tric materials. • Understanding nanomaterial behav- ior could enhance the efficiency of piezoelectric devices. • Future development of piezoelectric materials is discussed and predicted. graphical abstract article info Article history: Received 31 August 2018 Received in revised form 22 November 2018 Accepted 1 December 2018 Keywords: Piezoelectricity Nanomaterials Nanogenerator Sensor Renewable energy Energy scavenging abstract The development of piezoelectric materials has been an important topic within the ever-growing field of energy harvesting technologies. With recent advances, nanostructured piezoelectric nanogenerators have become a state-of-the-art technology for energy scavenging applications. A large variety of devices have been developed in recent decades. The performance of these electromechanical energy transformation devices has been radically increased with the use of nanostructured and novel materials. Metal oxides with perovskite structures and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) are two important substrates paving the way towards enhanced piezoelectric devices in the modern era. Previously, only ferroelectric materials with strong dipole moment had the upper hand in term of electromechanical response. Further, advanced studies have shown that surface activation could lead to an increase of the organized dipole, and thus allow for avoidance of poling. This review summarizes recent advanced techniques and improvements of energy generation through this electromechanical piezoelectric system. Classification of multi-dimensional piezoelectric material based nanogenerators has also been briefly addressed. © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 149 ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: mohammed.uddin@utrgv.edu (M.J. Uddin). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoso.2018.12.002 2352-507X/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.