Utilisation of smart polymers and ceramic based piezoelectric materials for scavenging wasted energy

Piezoelectric smart polymer and ceramic materials can be deployed as a mechanism to transform mechanical energy into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power portable devices. This paper focuses on the development and comparison of a micropower based harvesting generator using piezoelectric PZT (lead zirconate titanate) ceramic, PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) membrane and PP (polypropylene) foam polymer with the intention of establishing power output from temperature fluctuations. Unimorph and bimorph strips of various sizes were prepared and subjected to vibration and impact experiments in order to directly compare the voltage output. The effect of the ceramic fibre diameter, laminate thickness, impact area, weight of the free falling mass, vibration frequency and temperature on the voltage output were studied. Experiments are outlined detailing the performance characteristics of such piezoelectric fibre laminates. Results show voltage outputs of nearly 40V which is considered sufficient for potential applications in powering microsystems. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.