Fabrication and property of flexible macro fiber composites for vibration-based energy harvesting

Vibration energy harvesting based on piezoelectric materials attracts wide attention due to its advantages of high power density, architectural simplicity, and scalability. In this paper, the piezoelectric macro fiber composites (MFCs) for vibration energy harvesting were developed by using a hot pressing technique. The microscopic appearance analysis shows that there exists a good interfacial bonding property among the piezoelectric ceramic fibers and the epoxy resin matrix. The mechanical testing result proves that the largest tensile stress of the MFCs along the piezoelectric ceramic fibers direction reaches 71.27 MPa. The MFCs cantilever harvesters for the vi-bration energy harvesting under low frequency were tailored, and the research results show that the increase of the vibration acceleration, interdigital electrode space and volume fraction of piezoelectric ceramic fibers in MFCs can improve the open circuit voltage amplitude of the MFCs harvester. The application validation results show that electric power generated by one piece of MFC cantilever harvester can supply 88 LEDs and a small calculator.

Automated summary

This paper develops piezoelectric macro fiber composites (MFCs) for vibration energy harvesting using a hot pressing technique, which has the advantages of high power density, architectural simplicity, and scalability. Microscopic analysis shows good interfacial bonding between the piezoelectric ceramic fibers and epoxy resin matrix. Mechanical testing results demonstrate a maximum tensile stress of 71.27 MPa along the direction of the piezoelectric ceramic fibers in MFCs. Research results indicate that increasing vibration acceleration, interdigital electrode space, and volume fraction of piezoelectric ceramic fibers can improve the open circuit voltage amplitude of MFCs harvesters. Application validation shows that one MFC cantilever harvester can generate enough electric power to supply 88 LEDs and a small calculator.