Adaptable, High Performance Energy Harvesters

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul D. Mitcheson
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Harvesters

Electrostatic bellow muscle actuators and energy harvesters that stack up

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (51) ◽  
pp. eaaz5796
Author(s):  
I. D. Sîrbu ◽  
G. Moretti ◽  
G. Bortolotti ◽  
M. Bolignari ◽  
S. Diré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Pressure Head ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Maximum Pressure ◽  
Term Operation ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Out Of Plane

Future robotic systems will be pervasive technologies operating autonomously in unknown spaces that are shared with humans. Such complex interactions make it compulsory for them to be lightweight, soft, and efficient in a way to guarantee safety, robustness, and long-term operation. Such a set of qualities can be achieved using soft multipurpose systems that combine, integrate, and commute between conventional electromechanical and fluidic drives, as well as harvest energy during inactive actuation phases for increased energy efficiency. Here, we present an electrostatic actuator made of thin films and liquid dielectrics combined with rigid polymeric stiffening elements to form a circular electrostatic bellow muscle (EBM) unit capable of out-of-plane contraction. These units are easy to manufacture and can be arranged in arrays and stacks, which can be used as a contractile artificial muscle, as a pump for fluid-driven soft robots, or as an energy harvester. As an artificial muscle, EBMs of 20 to 40 millimeters in diameter can exert forces of up to 6 newtons, lift loads over a hundred times their own weight, and reach contractions of over 40% with strain rates over 1200% per second, with a bandwidth over 10 hertz. As a pump driver, these EBMs produce flow rates of up to 0.63 liters per minute and maximum pressure head of 6 kilopascals, whereas as generator, they reach a conversion efficiency close to 20%. The compact shape, low cost, simple assembling procedure, high reliability, and large contractions make the EBM a promising technology for high-performance robotic systems.

Selective current collecting design for spring-type energy harvesters

RSC Advances ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (14) ◽  
pp. 10662-10666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongjin Kim ◽  
Hee Seok Roh ◽  
Yeontae Kim ◽  
Kwangsoo No ◽  
Seungbum Hong
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Spring Type

We designed and fabricated a high performance spring-type piezoelectric energy harvester that selectively collects current from the inner part of a spring shell.

scholarly journals Fabric-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinmei Liu ◽  
Long Gu ◽  
Nuanyang Cui ◽  
Qi Xu ◽  
Yong Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Material Synthesis ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Portable Electronics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Triboelectric Nanogenerators ◽  
Energy Harvesting Devices ◽  
Further Development

In the past decades, the progress of wearable and portable electronics is quite rapid, but the power supply has been a great challenge for their practical applications. Wearable power sources, especially wearable energy-harvesting devices, provide some possible solutions for this challenge. Among various wearable energy harvesters, the high-performance fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are particularly significant. In this review paper, we first introduce the fundamentals of TENGs and their four basic working modes. Then, we will discuss the material synthesis, device design, and fabrication of fabric-based TENGs. Finally, we try to give some problems that need to be solved for the further development of TENGs.

The Microstructural, Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Properties of Graphene Aerogel-PVDF Nanoporous Composites

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang Ping Zheng ◽  
Z. Han ◽  
Y.Z. Liu
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Resistance ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Vinylidene Fluoride ◽  
Mechanical Relaxation ◽  
Graphene Aerogel ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Poly Vinylidene Fluoride ◽  
Mechanical Behaviours ◽  
Stress Dependent ◽  
Hybrid Scaffolds

Graphene aerogel-poly (vinylidene fluoride) (GA-PVDF) nanoporous composites with different concentrations of PVDF are fabricated. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that PVDF films with a typical thickness below 100 nm are coated at the graphene sheets in the nanoporous composites. The GA-PVDF composites show excellent compressibility, ductility and mechanical strength, as well as better sensitivity of stress-dependent electrical resistance compared with those of GAs. The improved mechanical and electro-mechanical behaviours of nanoporous composites are ascribed to the PVDF which possesses piezoelectricity. The structural properties of the graphene-PVDF nanosized hybrid scaffolds are analyzed by dynamical mechanical relaxation. The results demonstrate that the nanoporous composites could be used as high-performance sensors, actuators and kinetic energy harvesters.

Carbon anchored conducting polymer composite linkage for high performance water energy harvesters

Nano Energy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 104827
Author(s):  
Sung-Ho Shin ◽  
Jun Young Cheong ◽  
Haeseong Lim ◽  
Vinod V.T. Padil ◽  
Abhilash Venkateshaiah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conducting Polymer ◽  
Polymer Composite ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Harvesters

scholarly journals Magnetic Field Energy Harvesting with a Lead-Free Piezoelectric High Energy Conversion Material

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1346
Author(s):  
Quan Wang ◽  
Kyung-Bum Kim ◽  
Sang Bum Woo ◽  
Tae Hyun Sung
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
High Performance ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Lead Free ◽  
Field Energy ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Magnetic Field Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy

This article presents a high-performance lead-free piezoelectric energy harvester (LPEH) system for magnetic field. It based on a Ba0.85Ca0.15Ti0.90Zr0.10O3 + CuO 0.3 wt% (BCTZC0.3) composite was fabricated by sintering at 1450 °C. The BCTZC0.3 composite, which has an enhanced high energy conversion constant (), shows improved piezoelectric power-generation performance when compared with conventional piezoelectric energy harvesters. The BCTZC0.3-based LPEH produces instantaneous maximum power of 8.2 mW and an energy density of 107.9 mW/cm3 in a weak magnetic field of 250 μT. This system can be used to charge a capacitor and operate a wireless sensor network (WSN) system to provide temperature sensing and radio-frequency (RF) transmission in a 250 μT magnetic field. The proposed LPEH is a promising green-energy device for potentially self-powering WSN systems when applied.

scholarly journals High-Performance Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters and Their Applications

Joule ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 642-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengbao Yang ◽  
Shengxi Zhou ◽  
Jean Zu ◽  
Daniel Inman
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy

scholarly journals Unprecedented dipole alignment in α-phase nylon-11 nanowires for high-performance energy-harvesting applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (24) ◽  
pp. eaay5065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeon Sik Choi ◽  
Sung Kyun Kim ◽  
Michael Smith ◽  
Findlay Williams ◽  
Mary E. Vickers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Surface Potential ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Ferroelectric Polymers ◽  
Experimental Realization ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Α Phase ◽  
Nylon 11 ◽  
Dipole Alignment

Dipole alignment in ferroelectric polymers is routinely exploited for applications in charge-based applications. Here, we present the first experimental realization of ideally ordered dipole alignment in α-phase nylon-11 nanowires. This is an unprecedented discovery as dipole alignment is typically only ever achieved in ferroelectric polymers using an applied electric field, whereas here, we achieve dipole alignment in as-fabricated nanowires of ‘non-ferroelectric’ α-phase nylon-11, an overlooked polymorph of nylon proposed 30 years ago but never practically realized. We show that the strong hydrogen bonding in α-phase nylon-11 serves to enhance the molecular ordering, resulting in exceptional intensity and thermal stability of surface potential. This discovery has profound implications for the field of triboelectric energy harvesting, as the presence of an enhanced surface potential leads to higher mechanical energy harvesting performance. Our approach therefore paves the way towards achieving robust, high-performance mechanical energy harvesters based on this unusual ordered phase of nylon-11.

scholarly journals Orientation-dependent piezoresponse and high-performance energy harvesting of lead-free (K,Na)NbO3 nanorod arrays

RSC Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (28) ◽  
pp. 16908-16915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahua He ◽  
Zhao Wang ◽  
Xiaokang Hu ◽  
Yaxuan Cai ◽  
Luying Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Spontaneous Polarization ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Lead Free ◽  
Piezoelectric Response ◽  
Nanorod Arrays ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
High Output

High-quality (K,Na)NbO3 nanorod arrays with [110]-oriented spontaneous polarization and piezoelectric response were utilized for building high-output piezoelectric energy harvesters.

Progress on the Applications of Piezoelectric Materials in Sensors

2016 ◽  
Vol 848 ◽  
pp. 749-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ding Wang ◽  
Jian Sheng Chen
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Piezoelectric Materials ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Piezoelectric Sensors ◽  
Charge Voltage ◽  
Piezoelectric Composites ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Polymers ◽  
Electromechanical Transduction ◽  
Self Sufficiency

Piezoelectric materials, which can couple electrical and mechanical displacements, are one of the most important functional materials nowadays. They comprises piezoelectric monocrystals, piezoelectric polycrystals (piezoelectric ceramics), piezoelectric polymers, and piezoelectric composites. Sensors made of these materials can convert pressure, acceleration, flow rate, etc. to surface charge (voltage) that can be easily processed, and at the same time generate their own energy instead of consuming it. Compared to other electromechanical transduction technologies, piezoelectric sensors have the advantages of high environmental and chemical stability, broad temperature and frequency band, as well as self-sufficiency. Piezoelectric materials can also be used in various applications such as energy harvesters, actuators, transducers, and capacitors. This paper reviews the piezoelectric materials and their recent application progress on sensors and others. These published results show the developing trend of piezoelectric sensors to become lead-free, flexible, and with high performance.

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