scholarly journals Hollow Piezoelectric Ceramic Fibers for Energy Harvesting Fabrics

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 155892501300800
Author(s):  
François M. Guillot ◽  
Haskell W. Beckham ◽  
Johannes Leisen

In the past few years, the growing need for alternative power sources has generated considerable interest in the field of energy harvesting. A particularly exciting possibility within that field is the development of fabrics capable of harnessing mechanical energy and delivering electrical power to sensors and wearable devices. This study presents an evaluation of the electromechanical performance of hollow lead zirconate titanate (PZT) fibers as the basis for the construction of such fabrics. The fibers feature individual polymer claddings surrounding electrodes directly deposited onto both inside and outside ceramic surfaces. This configuration optimizes the amount of electrical energy available by placing the electrodes in direct contact with the surface of the material and by maximizing the active piezoelectric volume. Hollow fibers were electroded, encapsulated in a polymer cladding, poled and characterized in terms of their electromechanical properties. They were then glued to a vibrating cantilever beam equipped with a strain gauge, and their energy harvesting performance was measured. It was found that the fibers generated twice as much energy density as commercial state-of-the-art flexible composite sensors. Finally, the influence of the polymer cladding on the strain transmission to the fiber was evaluated. These fibers have the potential to be woven into fabrics that could harvest mechanical energy from the environment and could eventually be integrated into clothing.

Author(s):  
Jahangir Rastegar ◽  
Richard Murray

This is a review of two patents relating to electrical power generation on-board gun-fired munitions. The devices harvest mechanical energy from the motion of the projectile (e.g. the axial firing acceleration), and then convert the energy from mechanical to electrical using novel mechanisms and materials such as piezoelectric elements. The devices are particularly important for several reasons. Firstly, the devices are inherently safe because the root source of the electrical energy is the motion of the projectile; therefore no electrical energy can be produced until after the projectile is fired. Second, the devices have a much longer shelf-life than competing electrical power sources such as batteries. Finally, the devices are simple, rugged, and reliable making them ideal for the harsh environment on-board gun-fired projectiles. In addition to presenting the general approach, the logical framework of the patented embodiments is presented, especially with respect to the types of motion used for harvesting and the challenges presented by the varied magnitudes of those motions in different weapon platforms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (18) ◽  
pp. 3572-3581
Author(s):  
Suihan Liu ◽  
Ali Imani Azad ◽  
Rigoberto Burgueño

Piezoelectric energy harvesting from ambient vibrations is well studied, but harvesting from quasi-static responses is not yet fully explored. The lack of attention is because quasi-static actions are much slower than the resonance frequency of piezoelectric oscillators to achieve optimal outputs; however, they can be a common mechanical energy resource: from large civil structure deformations to biomechanical motions. The recent advances in bio-micro-electro-mechanical systems and wireless sensor technologies are motivating the study of piezoelectric energy harvesting from quasi-static conditions for low-power budget devices. This article presents a new approach of using quasi-static deformations to generate electrical power through an axially compressed bilaterally constrained strip with an attached piezoelectric layer. A theoretical model was developed to predict the strain distribution of the strip’s buckled configuration for calculating the electrical energy generation. Results from an experimental investigation and finite element simulations are in good agreement with the theoretical study. Test results from a prototyped device showed that a peak output power of 1.33 μW/cm2 was generated, which can adequately provide power supply for low-power budget devices. And a parametric study was also conducted to provide design guidance on selecting the dimensions of a device based on the external embedding structure.


2002 ◽  
Vol 741 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Kennedy ◽  
D.F. Bahr ◽  
C.D. Richards ◽  
R.F. Richards

ABSTRACTFlexing piezoelectric membranes can be used to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. The overall deflection of individual membranes is impacted by the residual stress in the system. Membranes comprised of silicon dioxide, Ti/Pt, lead- zirconate- titanate (PZT), and TiW/Au layers deposited on a micromachined boron doped silicon wafer were examined for both morphology and residual stress. By characterizing the membrane residual stress induced during processing with x-ray diffraction, wafer curvature, and bulge testing and identifying methods to reduce stress, the membrane performance and reliability can be optimized. For Zr:Ti ratios of 52:48, the residual stress in the PZT was 350 MPa tensile, with an overall effective stress in the composite membrane of 150 MPa. A reduction of stress was accomplished by changing the PZT chemistry to 40:60 Zr:Ti in the PZT to obtain a stress in the PZT of 160 MPa tensile and an overall effective membrane stress of 100 MPa. The crystallization of the 52:48 PZT film at 700 °C causes a 28% reduction in the thickness of the film.


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 1171-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelkader Rjafallah ◽  
Abdelowahed Hajjaji ◽  
Fouad Belhora ◽  
Daniel Guyomar ◽  
Laurence Seveyrat ◽  
...  

The microelectromechanical systems invade gradually the market with applications in many sectors of activity. Developing these micro-systems allows deploying wireless sensor networks that are useful to collect, process and transmit information from their environments without human intervention. In order to keep these micro-devices energetically autonomous without using batteries because they have a limited lifespan, an energy harvesting from ambient vibrations using electrostrictive polymers can be used. These polymers present best features against inorganic materials, as flexibility and low cost. The aims of this paper are manifold. First of all, we made elaboration of the polyurethane/lead zirconate titanate films of 100 µm thickness using a lead zirconate titanate–volume fraction of [Formula: see text]%. Therefore, we did an observation of the lead zirconate titanate grains dispersion and the electrical characterization of the polyurethane–50 vol% lead zirconate titanate composites. Finally, a detailed study of the electromechanical transduction, for the polyurethane–50 vol% lead zirconate titanate unpolarized and polarized composites sustained to the sinusoidal mechanical strain with amplitude of 1.5% and at very low frequencies ( f = 2 [Hz] and f = 4 [Hz]) and static electric field ( Edc = 10 [ V/µm]) or without it ( Edc = 0 [ V/µm]) has been presented.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Tatjana Nikolić ◽  
Mile Stojčev ◽  
Goran Nikolić ◽  
Goran Jovanović

Batteries are the main source of energy for low-power electronics such as micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS), wireless sensor networks, embedded devices for remote sensing and control, etc. With the limited capacity of finite power sources and the need for supplying energy for the lifetime of a system/device there is a requirement for self-powered devices. Using conventional batteries is not always good design solution because batteries require human intervention to replace them (very often in hard-accessible and harsh-environmental conditions). Therefore, acquiring the electrical power, by using an alternative source of energy that is needed to operate these devices is a major concern. The process of extracting energy from the surrounding environment and converting it into consumable electrical energy is known as energy harvesting or power scavenging. The energy harvesting sources can be used to increase the lifetime and capability of the devices by either replacing or augmenting the battery usage. There are various forms of energy that can be scavenged, like solar, mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic. Nowadays, there is a big interest in the field of research related to energy harvesting. This paper represents a survey for identifying the sources of energy harvesting and describes the basic operation of principles of the most common energy harvester. As first, we present, in short, the conversion principles of single energy source harvesting systems and point to their benefits and limitations in their usage. After that, hybrid structures of energy harvesters which simultaneously combine scavenged power from different ambient sources (solar, thermoelectric, electromagnetic), with aim to support higher load at the output, are considered.


Author(s):  
Sunija Sukumaran ◽  
Samir Chatbouri ◽  
Didier Rouxel ◽  
Etienne Tisserand ◽  
Frédéric Thiebaud ◽  
...  

Energy harvesting is one of the most promising research areas to produce sustainable power sources from the ambient environment. Which found applications to attain the extensive lifetime self-powered operations of various devices such as MEMS wireless sensors, medical implants and wearable electronic devices. Piezoelectric nanogenerators can efficiently convert the vastly available mechanical energy into electrical energy to meet the requirements of low-powered electronic devices. Among the piezoelectric materials, poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers are extensively studied for the development of energy harvesting devices. Due to the outstanding properties such as high flexibility, ease of processing, long-term stability, biocompatibility makes them a promising candidate for piezoelectric generators. Nevertheless, compared to piezoceramic materials, PVDF based generators produce lower piezoresponse. Over the last decades, tremendous research activities have been reported to endorse the performance of PVDF based energy harvesters. This review article mainly focused on the recent progress in the performance improvement with processing methods, piezoelectric materials, different filler loading. The new developments and design structures will lead to an increase in piezoelectricity, alignment of dipoles, dielectric properties and subsequently enhance the output performance of the device. Electronic circuits play a vital role in energy harvesting to efficiently collect the developed charge from the device. Here, we have proposed a detailed description of the electronic circuits. Also, in the application part deals with the recent progress in flexible, biomedical and hybrid generators based on PVDF polymers.


Author(s):  
Gunnar Tamm ◽  
J. Ledlie Klosky ◽  
Jacob Baxter ◽  
Luke Grant ◽  
Isaac Melnick ◽  
...  

Electrical power generation in austere settings, such as combat zones, places a heavy burden on the US Army; high costs in both dollars and lives lost require that every drop of fuel be used effectively and efficiently. In remote locations such as combat outposts (COPs) and small forward operating bases (FOBs) in Afghanistan, electrical power derived from the Army’s standard Advanced Medium Mobile Power Sources (AMMPS) generator is even used to heat water for showers and heat living spaces. This heating requires conversion of thermal energy to mechanical energy, which is then converted to electrical energy and back to heat. Thus, a significant fuel savings could be realized through the more efficient production of heat. A combined heat and power system is proposed; efficiency is increased by routing the generator exhaust through simple ducting to a standard gas hot water heater to produce hot water with waste heat. With funding from the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force, cadets and faculty at the United States Military Academy designed, built and tested a system for under $1,000 in parts which was readily coupled to a 5 kW AMMPS generator to produce hot shower water. Results indicate a possible fuel savings of 1500–2000 gallons per year, 20–35% increased fuel utility, and the ability to provide 10–20 five gallon showers during every 5 hours of operation of each 5 kW generator. At a fuel cost of $20–50 per gallon in the deployed environment, and considering the large inventory of deployed generators, the payback for the Army could be tremendous.


2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 10902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yassine Tabbai ◽  
Fouad Belhora ◽  
Reddad El Moznine ◽  
Abdelowahed Hajjaji ◽  
Abdessamad El Ballouti

We deal with the thermal energy which is one of the ambient energy sources surely exploitable, but it has not been much interest as the mechanical energy. In the last decades, direct energy conversion devices received particular attention because of the need to develop flexible systems, autonomous and self-powered. The energy harvesting aims to make the systems, autonomous in terms of energy and to contribute to sustainable development by the total respect of the environment. In this paper, our aim is to use thermal energy and show that it's an important source for producing the electrical energy through pyroelectric effect: first, elaborate charged polyurethane (PU) with different proportions (20%, 30% and 40%) of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), then to use those PZT/PU composites as a pyroelectric energy harvesting systems. Secondly, the optimization of energy harvesting and storage. The PZT/PU composite prepared is considered as one of the most promising composites for energy harvesting systems, due its various advantages, such as mechanical flexibility, high temperature sensitivity, low cost as well as its high electro-active functional properties. The current generated by all samples for temperature fluctuations over a period of time in the order of 140 s have been rectified and stored in a charge capacitor of 1μF. The stored energy can reach a maximum value in the order of 14μW for a composite loaded with 40% PZT. Therefore, these composites show an interesting potential to be used in various applications. These results shed light on the thermoelectric energy conversion by a new composite of PZT/PU having the pyroelectric property.


Author(s):  
Jahangir Rastegar ◽  
Richard Murray

Piezoelectric-based energy harvesting power sources that employ spring-mass vibrating systems have been employed with great success to harvest energy from various shock loading and/or vibration and oscillatory motions in numerous systems. In these systems, the external stimuli is used to store mechanical energy in the spring of a mass-spring unit which is attached to a piezoelectric element or a magnet and coil generator, and generate electrical energy as the vibrating mass-spring unit undergoes vibration and applies a cyclic load to the piezoelectric element. In this paper, the implementation of such energy harvesting power sources with a novel motion-doubling mechanism is presented. This novel force transmission method has two key advantages. Firstly, it provides the means to amplify the force applied to the piezoelectric element. Secondly, it provides the means of doubling the number of cycles of compressive forces applied to the piezoelectric elements during each cycle of vibration as compared to the direct mass-spring-piezoelectric generators that have been developed to date. The motion doubling and the resulting halving of the required number of cycles of vibration of the mass-spring unit for generating a certain amount of electrical energy has the effect of significantly increasing the mechanical to electrical energy conversion efficiency of the power source by significantly reducing structural damping losses in the spring element and by the increase in the level of force that is applied to the energy harvesting piezoelectric elements. The design and prototype fabrication of such an energy harvesting power sources is discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelkader Rjafallah ◽  
Abdelowahed Hajjaji ◽  
Daniel Guyomar ◽  
Khalid Kandoussi ◽  
Fouad Belhora ◽  
...  

Collecting the vibration energy existing in the surrounding environment and its transformation to a useful electrical energy in order to supply ultra-low power systems remains an emerging and promising technology. During the last decades, most of research efforts dealt with energy-harvesting technology using piezoelectric ceramics. However, those materials are stiff and limited in mechanical strain abilities. In addition, they lose their stiffness and piezoelectricity at high levels of mechanical strain. Thus, they are unsuitable for many applications in which low frequency and high strain level are required. However, electrostrictive polymers are lightweight, very flexible, have low manufacturing costs and are easy to mould into any desired shapes. These special properties led to them being considered as potential actuators. However, it is not well known that these materials also can be used for mechanical-to-electrical energy harvesting. In this research paper, electromechanical characterization of polymer/lead zirconate titanate composites was extended. The first part develops the analytical model predicting the energy harvested by polyurethane/PZT composites from electrical and mechanical properties of their constituent materials. Indeed, this model was based on the approach of representing the experimental setup with an equivalent electrical scheme. The second part focuses on the assessment of model performance by comparison between predicted and observed values. As a result, good agreements were observed between the two sets of data; in addition, the model could be used to optimize the choice of constituent materials. The last part concerns the contribution of both the electrostrictive effect and piezoelectric effect in electrical powers harvested by PU/PZT composites.


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