Energy Harvesting From Droplet Interface Bilayers

Biologically inspired droplet interface bilayers have found applications in the development of hair cell sensors and other mechanotransduction applications. In this research, the flexoelectric capability of the droplet bilayers under external excitation is explored for energy harvesting. Traditionally, membrane capacitance models are being used for inferring the magnitude of the membrane deflection which do not account for the relation between the applied force or deflection and the deflection of the interfacial membrane and time dependent variations. In this work, the dynamic behavior of the droplets under external excitation has been modeled using nonlinear finite element analysis. A flexoelectric model including mechanical, electrical, and chemical sensitivities has been developed and coupled with the calculated bilayer deformations to predict the mechanotransductive response of the droplets under excitation. Using the developed framework, the possibilities of energy harvesting for different droplet configurations have been investigated and reported.