A simple micro electret power generator

We developed a novel, yet simple, micro electret power generator prototype for low-frequency energy harvesting applications. In this prototype, two electrodes of the power generator are placed on the stator. The rotor is only a plate with metal strips of half of the spatial frequency of the stator plate. The packaging is to simply fix the stator to a container and put the rotor directly on top of the stator. CYTOP, a MEMS-compatible perfluoropolymer, served as the electret material and charged with corona charging. The power output was 2.267μW at 60Hz

Parylene-HT-based electret rotor generator

A new micro power generator with parylene HT electret rotor is made. This generator uses parylene HT as a new electret material with a much superior charge density compared to teflon and CYTOP. The highest surface potential observed is 204.58 V/mum, equivalent to a surface charge density of 3.69 mC/m^2. The generator uses an electret rotor. The rotor is a piece of PEEK insulator block coated with a layer of corona-charged parylene HT. Both output electrodes are on the stator. The generator produces 17.98 µW with 80MΩ load at 50Hz and 7.77 µW with an 800MΩ load at 10Hz

Running Shoe Pedometer

Running shoe pedometer aims to solve the issue of worn out running shoes. It can be difficult to know just how many miles you have run in your shoes and when a new pair is needed. Running in old shoes and worn out shoes is heavily linked to injury. My proposed project is a device that is powered by the compressive forces on the shoes soles that counts the number of steps the wearer takes using a microcontroller. Then, when the shoe reaches milestone that indicate it has been used 75% 90% and 100% of its expected life, it will output the information to the user. In order to output the wear life of the shoes to the user, a series of color changing chemical reactions will be used. These reactions will most likely be acid/base with some type of indicator or an electrochromic material. These color changes will allow the user to see that their shoes are worn out. The device should be extremely low cost so that it can be built into a running shoe and disposed of when the shoe is worn out

Parylene-based electret power generators

n electret power generator is developed using a new electret made of a charged parylene HT® thin-film polymer. Here, parylene HT® is a room-temperature chemical-vapor-deposited thin-film polymer that is MEMS and CMOS compatible. With corona charge implantation, the surface charge density of parylene HT® is measured as high as 3.69 mC m^−2. Moreover, it is found that, with annealing at 400 °C for 1 h before charge implantation, both the long-term stability and the high-temperature reliability of the electret are improved. For the generator, a new design of the stator/rotor is also developed. The new micro electret generator does not require any sophisticated gap-controlling structure such as tethers. With the conformal coating capability of parylene HT®, it is also feasible to have the electret on the rotors, which is made of either a piece of metal or an insulator. The maximum power output, 17.98 µW, is obtained at 50 Hz with an external load of 80 MΩ. For low frequencies, the generator can harvest 7.7 µW at 10 Hz and 8.23 µW at 20 Hz

Energy harvesting textiles for a rainy day: woven piezoelectrics based on melt-spun PVDF microfibres with a conducting core

Recent advances in ubiquitous low-power electronics call for the development of light-weight and flexible energy sources. The textile format is highly attractive for unobtrusive harvesting of energy from e.g., biomechanical movements. Here, we report the manufacture and characterisation of fully textile piezoelectric generators that can operate under wet conditions. We use a weaving loom to realise textile bands with yarns of melt-spun piezoelectric microfibres, that consist of a conducting core surrounded by β-phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), in the warp direction. The core-sheath constitution of the piezoelectric microfibres results in a—for electronic textiles—unique architecture. The inner electrode is fully shielded from the outer electrode (made up of conducting yarns that are integrated in the weft direction) which prevents shorting under wet conditions. As a result, and in contrast to other energy harvesting textiles, we are able to demonstrate piezoelectric fabrics that do not only continue to function when in contact with water, but show enhanced performance. The piezoelectric bands generate an output of several volts at strains below one percent. We show that integration into the shoulder strap of a laptop case permits the continuous generation of four microwatts of power during a brisk walk. This promising performance, combined with the fact that our solution uses scalable materials and well-established industrial manufacturing methods, opens up the possibility to develop wearable electronics that are powered by piezoelectric textiles

Optimum piezoelectric bending beam structures for energy harvesting using shoe inserts

The small amount of power demanded by many present-day electronic devices opens up the possibility to convert part of the energy present in the environment into electrical energy, using several methods. One such method is to use piezoelectric film-bending beams inside a shoe, and use part of the mechanical energy employed during normal walking activity. This study analyzes several bending beam structures suitable for the intended application (shoe inserts and walking-type excitation) and obtains the resulting strain for each type as a function of their geometrical parameters and material properties. As a result, the optimum configuration can be selected.Peer Reviewe

USING PVDF FILMS AS FLEXIBLE PIEZOELECTRIC GENERATORS FOR BIOMECHANICAL ENERGY HARVESTING

In this paper, a commercial polymeric piezoelectric film, the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was used to harvest electrical energy during the execution of five locomotion activities (walking, going down and up the stairs, jogging and running). The PVDF film transducer was placed into a tight suit in proximity of four body joints (shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle). The RMS values of the power output measured during the five activities were in the range 0.1 – 10 µW depending on the position of the film transducer on the body. This amount of electrical power allows increasing the operation time of wearable systems, and it may be used to prolong the monitoring of human vital signals for personalized health, wellness, and safety applications

Nanoscale flexoelectric energy harvesting

AbstractOne of the most tantalizing applications of piezoelectricity is to harvest energy from ambient mechanical vibrations for powering micro and nano devices. However, piezoelectricity is restricted only to certain materials and is severely compromised at high temperatures. In this article, we examine in detail, the possibility of using the phenomenon of flexoelectricity for energy harvesting. The flexoelectric effect is universally present in all dielectrics and exhibits a strong scaling with size. Using a simple beam-based paradigmatical design, we theoretically and computationally examine flexoelectric energy harvesting under harmonic mechanical excitation. We find that the output power density and conversion efficiency increase significantly when the beam thickness reduces from micro to nanoscale and flexoelectricity-based energy harvesting can be a viable alternative to piezoelectrics. Specifically, the conversion efficiency in flexoelectric transduction at sub-micron thickness levels is observed to increase by two orders of magnitude as the thickness is reduced by an order of magnitude. The flexoelectric energy harvester works even for a single layer beam with a symmetric cross section which is not possible in piezoelectric energy harvesting. Our results also pave the way for exploration of high temperature energy harvesting since unlike piezoelectricity, flexoelectricity persists well beyond the Curie temperatures of the high electromechanical coupling ferroelectrics that are often used

Acoustic energy harvesting using flexible panel and PVDF films: a preliminary study

Acoustic energy harvesting from ambient noise utilizing flexural vibration of a flexible panel is investigated. A flexural vibration from the panel is use to extract more energy from the ambient noise where piezoelectric materials of PVDF films are attached around the plate edges. This preliminary study found that the energy harvesting can be obtained with a maximum output power of 120 pW at sound pressure level of 97.3 dBA