Integrated Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting and Organic Storage System

Abstract

An experimental investigation of an integrated piezo-electric based energy harvester and an organic energy storage device is performed. The energy is harvested from a vibrating composite unimorph beam. The storage device is made out of an organic semiconductor material and storage elements from synthesized nanoparticles. The semiconducting polymer is obtained by blending poly (vinyl alcohol) and poly (acrylic acid) in crystal state polymers with sorbitol acting as the plasticizer. Zinc-Oxide nanoparticles with a diameter size between 50 and 70 nm are used as charge storage elements. A piezoelectric energy generation element made out of macro-fiber composite is used to harvest the energy from the vibrating beam. The harvested energy is stored in the organic capacitor. The performance of the organic device is evaluated through its comparison with commercial capacitors. The results show that the voltage produced was high enough to store the harvested energy in the organic capacitor. The charge and energy levels of the organic capacitor are reported.

An experimental study on piezoelectric energy harvesting from palm tree induced by wind

“…The most commonly used shape for mechanical vibration is a thin flat layer of geometric shape formed as a cantilever beam assembly. In recent years, researchers have used composites as cantilever beam assembly which provide large mechanical strain within the piezoelectric transducer during vibration [15][16][17][18]. For the cantilever beam assembly, the resonance frequency is lower than the other vibration modes of the piezoelectric element.…”