PVDF-TrFE Electroactive Polymer Mechanical-to-Electrical Energy Harvesting Experimental Bimorph Structure

Abstract

Research of electrostrictive polymers has generated new opportunities for harvesting energy from the surrounding environment and converting it into usable electrical energy. Electroactive polymer (EAP) research is one of the new opportunities for harvesting energy from the natural environment and converting it into usable electrical energy. Piezoelectric ceramic based energy harvesting devices tend to be unsuitable for low-frequency mechanical excitations such as human movement. Organic polymers are typically softer and more flexible therefore translated electrical energy output is considerably higher under the same mechanical force. In addition, cantilever geometry is one of the most used structures in piezoelectric energy harvesters, especially for mechanical energy harvesting from vibrations. In order to further lower the resonance frequency of the cantilever microstructure, a proof mass can be attached to the free end of the cantilever. Mechanical analysis of an experimental bimorph structure was provided and led to key design rules for post-processing steps to control the performance of the energy harvester. In this work, methods of materials processing and the mechanical to electrical conversion of vibrational energy into usable energy were investigated. Materials such as polyvinyledenedifluoridetetra-fluoroethylene P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer films (1um thick or less) were evaluated and presented a large relative permittivity and greater piezoelectric β-phase without stretching. Further investigations will be used to identify suitable micro-electromechanical systems (MEMs) structures given specific types of low-frequency mechanical excitations (10-100Hz).

Structural Tailing and Pyroelectric Energy Harvesting of P(VDF-TrFE) and P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) Ferroelectric Polymer Blends

“…In order to overcome this problem there is a way to reuse waste energy to produce fresh energy for human use. These days, researchers are trying to establish new ways to harvest waste energy as an alternative. − …”

Highly Sensitive Impact Sensor Based on PVDF-TrFE/Nano-ZnO Composite Thin Film

“…In recent years, more and more studies have focused on organic piezoelectric materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) series and its copolymer polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE), because of their flexibility, low cost, and stable performance. At present, they have been widely adapted for various applications, such as ultrasonic measurement [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ], pressure sensing [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ], energy harvesting [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] and wearable devices [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Compared with PVDF, PVDF-TrFE forms a piezoelectric β-phase directly from the melt-crystallization process without mechanical stretching, which simplifies the material preparation process and greatly improves the crystallinity of the piezoelectric copolymer.…”