Hybridizing Energy Conversion and Storage in a Mechanical-to-Electrochemical Process for Self-Charging Power Cell

Energy generation and energy storage are two distinct processes that are usually accomplished using two separated units designed on the basis of different physical principles, such as piezoelectric nanogenerator and Li-ion battery; the former converts mechanical energy into electricity, and the latter stores electric energy as chemical energy. Here, we introduce a fundamental mechanism that directly hybridizes the two processes into one, in which the mechanical energy is directly converted and simultaneously stored as chemical energy without going through the intermediate step of first converting into electricity. By replacing the polyethylene (PE) separator as for conventional Li battery with a piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) film, the piezoelectric potential from the PVDF film as created by mechanical straining acts as a charge pump to drive Li ions to migrate from the cathode to the anode accompanying charging reactions at electrodes. This new approach can be applied to fabricating a self-charging power cell (SCPC) for sustainable driving micro/nanosystems and personal electronics.     

Simplified unipolar, quasisquare wave energy recovery drive circuits for piezoelectric actuators

A simple two-switch circuit for driving piezoelectric actuators with unipolar quasisquare waves is presented. The circuit provides for recovery of the energy stored on the actuator capacitance back to the primary power supply when the actuator is de-energized.     

钛酸铋钠基无铅铁电陶瓷场致应变性能研究

钛酸铋钠(Bi_0.5Na_0.5)TiO₃(BNT)作为典型的钙钛矿型弛豫铁电体, 具有超高的场致应变, 是最有希望代替铅基体系的无铅压电体系之一。与铅基陶瓷相比, BNT基陶瓷具有驱动电压较高、迟滞较大以及温度稳定性差等劣势。为了优化无铅驱动器的应变性能, 本研究采用固相反应法制备(1-x){0.76(Bi_0.5Na_0.5)TiO₃-0.24SrTiO₃}-xNaNbO₃(BNT- ST-xNN, x=0~0.03)无铅铁电陶瓷。结果表明, 当x=0.01时, 该陶瓷在较低电场(E=4 kV/mm)下的应变值可达到0.278%, 等效压电系数d^*₃₃高达695 pm/V。此时, 陶瓷处于非遍历/遍历弛豫相界处, 电场诱导弛豫-铁电相变导致大场致应变。与x=0.01相比, x=0.02时应变值为0.249%, 略微下降, 但迟滞却降低至43%。此外, 该应变在25~100 ℃温度范围内维持稳定。本研究表明, 在BNT基陶瓷中固溶SrTiO₃和NaNbO₃组元可以提高场致应变值, 同时维持较低的驱动电场和良好的温度稳定性, 可用于压电驱动器研制。     

Polymer-based nanopiezoelectric generators for energy harvesting applications

Abstract

Energy harvesting from ambient vibrations originating from sources such as moving parts of machines, fluid flow and even body movement, has enormous potential for small power applications, such as wireless sensors, flexible, portable and wearable electronics, and bio-medical implants, to name a few. Nanoscale piezoelectric energy harvesters, also known as nanogenerators (NGs), can directly convert small scale ambient vibrations into electrical energy. Scavenging power from ubiquitous vibrations in this way offers an attractive route to provide power to small devices, which would otherwise require direct or indirect connection to electrical power infrastructure. Ceramics such as lead zirconium titanate and semiconductors such as zinc oxide are the most widely used piezoelectric energy harvesting materials. This review focuses on a different class of piezoelectric materials, namely, ferroelectric polymers, such as polyvinlyidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymers. These are potentially superior energy harvesting materials as they are flexible, robust, lightweight, easy and cheap to fabricate, as well as being lead free and biocompatible. We review some of the theoretical and experimental aspects of piezoelectric energy recovery using Polymer-based NGs with a novel emphasis on coupling to mechanical resonance, which is relevant for efficient energy harvesting from typically low frequency (<1 kHz) ambient vibrations. The realisation of highly efficient and low cost piezoelectric polymer NGs with reliable energy harvesting performance could lead to wide ranging energy solutions for the next generation of autonomous electronic and wireless devices.     

Design and performance testing of an ultrasonic linear motor with dual piezoelectric actuators

In this work, design and performance testing of an ultrasonic linear motor with dual piezoelectric actuator patches are studied. The motor system consists of a linear stator, a pre-load weight, and two piezoelectric actuator patches. The piezoelectric actuators are bonded with the linear elastic stator at specific locations. The stator generates propagating waves when the piezoelectric actuators are subjected to harmonic excitations. Vibration characteristics of the linear stator are analyzed and compared with finite element and experimental results. The analytical, finite element, and experimental results show agreement. In the experiments, performance of the ultrasonic linear motor is tested. Relationships between velocity and pre-load weight, velocity and applied voltage, driving force and applied voltage, and velocity and driving force are reported. The design of the dual piezoelectric actuators yields a simpler structure with a smaller number of actuators and lower stator stiffness compared with a conventional design of an ultrasonic linear motor with fully laminated piezoelectric actuators.     

Numerical modelling of piezoelectric actuators exposed to hydrogen

Modern fuel injectors have been developed based on piezoelectric stack actuators. Performance and durability of actuators in a hydrogen environment are important considerations in the development of hydrogen injectors. 2D plane stress and 3D models for analysis of coupled diffusion and thermo-electromechanical response of actuators are presented. Chemical potential, electric field and temperature gradients are taken as driving forces for hydrogen transport. The explicit Euler finite difference method is used to solve the nonlinear diffusion governing equation. The finite element method is used for time-dependent analysis of fully coupled mechanical, electric and thermal fields. The diffusion process and thermo-electromechanical deformations are coupled through the dependence of piezoelectric properties on hydrogen concentration. Experimental results for the piezoelectric coefficient d ₃₃ of PZT ceramics exposed to different hydrogen concentrations are used. A comparison of a fully coupled 2D model with 2D and 3D models with reduced coupling is made to examine the significance of coupling and computational efficiency. Selected numerical results are presented for time histories of hydrogen concentration, temperature and stroke of an idealized actuator unit cell to obtain a preliminary understanding of the performance of actuators exposed to hydrogen.     

A Quasi‐Solid‐State Flexible Fiber‐Shaped Li–CO2 Battery with Low Overpotential and High Energy Efficiency

The rapid development of wearable electronics requires a revolution of power accessories regarding flexibility and energy density. The Li–CO₂ battery was recently proposed as a novel and promising candidate for next‐generation energy‐storage systems. However, the current Li–CO₂ batteries usually suffer from the difficulties of poor stability, low energy efficiency, and leakage of liquid electrolyte, and few flexible Li–CO₂ batteries for wearable electronics have been reported so far. Herein, a quasi‐solid‐state flexible fiber‐shaped Li–CO₂ battery with low overpotential and high energy efficiency, by employing ultrafine Mo₂C nanoparticles anchored on a carbon nanotube (CNT) cloth freestanding hybrid film as the cathode, is demonstrated. Due to the synergistic effects of the CNT substrate and Mo₂C catalyst, it achieves a low charge potential below 3.4 V, a high energy efficiency of ≈80%, and can be reversibly discharged and charged for 40 cycles. Experimental results and theoretical simulation show that the intermediate discharge product Li₂C₂O₄ stabilized by Mo₂C via coordinative electrons transfer should be responsible for the reduction of overpotential. The as‐fabricated quasi‐solid‐state flexible fiber‐shaped Li–CO₂ battery can also keep working normally even under various deformation conditions, giving it great potential of becoming an advanced energy accessory for wearable electronics.     

利用音叉共鸣结构的大振幅双足压电直线电机

本文提出了一种根据人类行走姿态加以抽象的新型双足压电直线电机。音叉共鸣结构的引入使得驱动足可以产生大振幅,而且提高了压电换能效率,低电压即可驱动。驱动足实现大振幅的意义在于大大降低了对于导轨的要求,木轨、塑料轨等首次成为压电超声波电机的驱动导轨。本文建立了该电机简化的动力学模型,分析了定子拓扑结构、配重等设计参数对于输出机械性能的影响,给出了设计准则。通过实验测出了该电机的输出特性,最高输出速度为210mm/s,最大输出力为0. 5N。     

高线性度的二维无耦合纳米压电位移系统设计

设计了一套具有高线性度的二维无耦合纳米压电位移系统。提出了一种多个压电陶瓷同步线性操作的电荷控制方案,设计采用基于非线性反馈控制和相似控制相结合的具有接地配置功能的压电控制器。控制器中引入了T型电阻网络,使电容较小的压电致动器能够进行低频线性操作。并对压电陶瓷驱动的位移平台进行了机械结构设计,平台采用嵌套式串联结构来避免耦合位移。通过解析法和ANSYS Workbench有限元仿真两方面对位移平台进行了刚度及位移分析。搭建了一套干涉位移测量系统,对压电位移台的位移、耦合误差及线性度进行了验证测试。实验结果表明:系统满行程内二维位移台的耦合误差最大仅为0.098%,可以将迟滞不对称引起的剩余轨迹偏差减小到0.79%,两个压电陶瓷间的最大轨迹偏差仅为行程范围的0.23%,理论分析和实验验证了所设计多压电电荷控制器的可行性,且系统可有效抑制耦合位移并使定位精度得到明显提高。     

High‐Performance Polymers Sandwiched with Chemical Vapor Deposited Hexagonal Boron Nitrides as Scalable High‐Temperature Dielectric Materials

Polymer dielectrics are the preferred materials of choice for power electronics and pulsed power applications. However, their relatively low operating temperatures significantly limit their uses in harsh‐environment energy storage devices, e.g., automobile and aerospace power systems. Herein, hexagonal boron nitride (h ‐BN) films are prepared from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and readily transferred onto polyetherimide (PEI) films. Greatly improved performance in terms of discharged energy density and charge–discharge efficiency is achieved in the PEI sandwiched with CVD‐grown h ‐BN films at elevated temperatures when compared to neat PEI films and other high‐temperature polymer and nanocomposite dielectrics. Notably, the h ‐BN‐coated PEI films are capable of operating with >90% charge–discharge efficiencies and delivering high energy densities, i.e., 1.2 J cm^?3, even at a temperature close to the glass transition temperature of polymer (i.e., 217 °C) where pristine PEI almost fails. Outstanding cyclability and dielectric stability over a straight 55 000 charge–discharge cycles are demonstrated in the h ‐BN‐coated PEI at high temperatures. The work demonstrates a general and scalable pathway to enable the high‐temperature capacitive energy applications of a wide range of engineering polymers and also offers an efficient method for the synthesis and transfer of 2D nanomaterials at the scale demanded for applications.     

Design, fabrication and characterization of a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic probe for medical imaging

In this paper we report the design, fabrication process, and characterization of a 64-elements capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT), 3 MHz center frequency, 100% fractional bandwidth. Using this transducer, we developed a linear probe for application in medical echographic imaging. The probe was fully characterized and tested with a commercial echographic scanner to obtain first images from phantoms and in vivo human body. The results, which quickly follow similar results obtained by other researchers, clearly show the great potentiality of this new emerging technology. The cMUT probe works better than the standard piezoelectric probe as far as the axial resolution is concerned, but it suffers from low sensitivity. At present this can be a limit, especially for in depth operation. But we are strongly confident that significant improvements can be obtained in the very near future to overcome this limitation, with a better transducer design, the use of an acoustic lens, and using well matched, front-end electronics between the transducer and the echographic system.     

Magnetic force control with composite of giant magnetostrictive and piezoelectric materials

We propose a new magnetic force control device, composed of a giant magnetostrictive material (Terfenol-D) and a piezoelectric material (PZT), for coilless magnetic force control. The device uses the inverse magnetostrictive effect, whereby the variation of magnetization of a Terfenol-D rod controlled by PZT is converted to the variation of magnetic force by a magnetic circuit. Because PZT is electrically capacitive, the method has the advantage of low power consumption and low heat generation in static operation. We have fabricated several devices with different geometrical shapes of the rods and magnetic yokes, and we describe their characteristics such as power consumption, heat generation, and response. We discuss a magnetic circuit design strategy that uses the /spl Delta/E effect in magnetostrictive materials to increase the energy conversion efficiency.     

Elastic, dielectric, and piezoelectric losses in piezoceramics: how it works all together

The quality factor along with electromechanical coupling coefficient (CEMC) is commonly used as a measure of the energy efficiency of a piezoelectric transducer (PT) working as an energy converter. Losses in piezoceramics are phenomenologically considered to have three coupled mechanisms: dielectric, elastic, and piezoelectric. Their cumulative performance first of all determines the PT quality factor characterizing the efficiency of vibrational energy accumulation, and related to it dissipative effects. The extended definition of the PT electromechanical quality factor (EMQ) with permanent energy exchange between electrical source of excitation and PT was proposed. The EMQ analysis has been conducted on the basis of complex material constants for both stiffened and unstiffened canonical vibrational modes. The efficiency of mechanically free and electrically excited piezoceramic transducers in a wide frequency range of PT harmonics, especially between the fundamental resonance and antiresonance frequencies, was investigated, and the effect of piezoelectric loss anomaly with extremely low total losses was predicted. Particularly, optimization of PT excitation with connected reactive (capacitive) element was conducted to provide higher PT mechanical vibrational characteristics with less total losses. The requirements to the piezoceramic material parameters, types of transducer vibrations, and especially to the piezoelectric loss factor in the range of physically valid values were established to provide maximal EMQ.     

Patternable production of SrTi03 nanoparticles using 1-W laser directly on flexible humidity sensor platform based on ITO/SrTiO3/CNT

Perovskite oxides like SrTiO3 at the nanoscale are of interest for emerging applications,including high-k dielectrics and sensors.However,their synthesis requires long calcination at the elevated temperature,which is a barrier of their application to flexible electronics.Here,an effective laser-assisted sol-gel method to patternably produce SrTiO3 nanoparticles (-100 nm) in selective areas on polyimide substrates (coated with ITO) is introduced.Importantly,the violet-laser power is just 1 W but sufficient to crystallize the material in a short period (a few seconds).Furthermore,developing a flexible device platform using carbon nanotubes (CNT) and SrTiO3 nanoparticles for detection of humidity changes at room temperature is proposed.The sensor platform has both capacitive and resistive sensing abilities.The resistive mode with a lower power usage (about 0.2 μW) is suitable for long monitoring of humidity in the range of 2％ RH and above.The capacitive mode with higher sensitivity,faster response/recovery time (1-3 min),and lower detection limit (0.5％ RH) can be used for calibration purposes.The performance of the flexible sensor is still maintained after 5000 bending cycles at 1.5-cm radius.Altogether,our synthesis method and the flexible sensor show chances for mass-producing perovskite oxides at low cost for wearable electronics.     

BiAlO3掺杂PZT陶瓷的高压电性能和低电场应变滞后

铅基压电陶瓷因其优异的压电性能, 被广泛应用于压电器件。其中, 压电驱动器要求压电陶瓷具有较高压电性能并且在电场下具有较高的电致应变和较小的应变滞后。本研究通过施主-受主共掺, 得到高压电性能和低电场应变滞后的PZT陶瓷。采用传统固相反应法制备了(1-x)(Pb_0.95Sr_0.05)(Zr₅₃Ti₄₇)O₃-xBiAlO₃+0.2%MnO₂陶瓷(掺杂量为质量百分数), 并对其微观结构和压电性能进行了研究。结果表明：BiAlO₃掺杂量较少时, 陶瓷中缺陷偶极子的“钉扎”效应使得陶瓷畴壁转动困难, 陶瓷压电性能较弱, 应变滞后也较小。随BiAlO₃掺杂量增加, 缺陷偶极子“钉扎”效应减弱, 陶瓷的压电性能和应变滞后随之提高。本实验得到的性能最优组分为x=1.75%, 该组份陶瓷的压电系数d₃₃=504 pC/N, 机电耦合系数k_p=0.71, 机械品质因数Q_m=281, 居里温度T_C=312 ℃, 在10 kV/cm电场下的应变滞后仅为15%, 并且还具有较好的温度稳定性, 是一种具有应用价值的压电驱动器用压电陶瓷材料。     

Passive charge modulation for a wireless pressure sensor

A wireless pressure sensor is described for use in a high-pressure manufacturing process with three major subsystems: energy conversion by a stack of piezoelectric disks, energy measurement and control by a threshold modulator, and ultrasonic signal transmission by a piezoelectric transmitter. The second system, the threshold modulator, is the focus of this paper. The charge, proportional to pressure, on a capacitive element is measured and controlled through the use of a two-transistor modulator. Standard NPN and PNP transistors are used to passively control the flow of charge between a piezoelectric stack and an ultrasonic transmitter. The basis for the design is discussed, from which a simulation is developed and compared to a bench top prototype. The results of this comparison indicate the appropriateness of the assumptions used to produce an analytical model of the design and the limiting conditions under which the modulator will effectively measure charge. Finally, the prototype device is optimized with respect to sensitivity, gain, and operating range for use in real-time process monitoring and control.     

Class D amplifier for a power piezoelectric load

We present a high efficiency inverter (>90%) that can drive an acoustic cavitation reactor with a 2 kW power between 10 and 100 kHz. This reactor is composed of numerous piezoelectric transducers and is particularly used to accelerate various industrial chemical reactions and destroy a variety of organic contaminants in water. The class-D amplifier or inverter is composed of power MOSFETs, type IRFP460, in a full bridge configuration driven by IR2110 circuits in bootstrap mode. The specific nature of the problem comes from the fact that, at frequencies slightly different from a resonant frequency frn, the load is mostly capacitive. The insertion of an appropriate low-pass filter in front of the load allowed an efficient solution to the problem due to the load being capacitive for harmonics. The realized system can provide nearly 2 kW to this type of piezoelectric load, with an efficiency of more than 95%     

A New Facile Route to Flexible and Semi‐Transparent Electrodes Based on Water Exfoliated Graphene and their Single‐Electrode Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Wearable technologies are driving current research efforts to self‐powered electronics, for which novel high‐performance materials such as graphene and low‐cost fabrication processes are highly sought.The integration of high‐quality graphene films obtained from scalable water processing approaches in emerging applications for flexible and wearable electronics is demonstrated. A novel method for the assembly of shear exfoliated graphene in water, comprising a direct transfer process assisted by evaporation of isopropyl alcohol is developed. It is shown that graphene films can be easily transferred to any target substrate such as paper, flexible polymeric sheets and fibers, glass, and Si substrates. By combining graphene as the electrode and poly(dimethylsiloxane) as the active layer, a flexible and semi‐transparent triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is demonstrated for harvesting energy. The results constitute a new step toward the realization of energy harvesting devices that could be integrated with a wide range of wearable and flexible technologies, and opens new possibilities for the use of TENGs in many applications such as electronic skin and wearable electronics.     

Optimal design in vibration control of adaptive structures using a simulated annealing algorithm

Advanced reinforced composite structures incorporating piezoelectric sensors and actuators are increasingly becoming important due to the development of smart structures. These structures offer potential benefits in a wide range of engineering applications such as vibration and noise suppression, shape control and precision positioning. This paper presents a finite element formulation based on the classical laminated plate theory for laminated structures with integrated piezoelectric layers or patches, acting as sensors and actuators. The finite element model is a single layer triangular nonconforming plate/shell element with 18 degrees of freedom for the generalized displacements, and one additional electrical potential degree of freedom for each surface bonded piezoelectric element layer or patch. The control is initialized through a previous optimization of the core of the laminated structure, in order to minimize the vibration amplitude and maximize the first natural frequency. Also the optimization of the patches position is performed to maximize the piezoelectric actuators efficiency. The simulated annealing algorithm is used for these purposes. To achieve a mechanism of active control of the structure dynamic response, a feedback control algorithm is used, coupling the sensor and active piezoelectric layers or patches, and to calculate the dynamic response of the laminated structures the Newmark method is considered. The model is applied in the optimization of an illustrative adaptive laminated plate case. The influence of the position and number of piezoelectric patches, as well as the control gain, are investigated and the results are presented and discussed.     

Design of magnetostrictive/piezoelectric laminate composite for coil-less magnetic force control

We propose a magnetic force control device consisting of laminate composites of magnetostrictive material and piezoelectric material. The magnetic force control is based on energy conversion in the composite, such that the variation of magnetization of the magnetostrictive material induced by the piezoelectric material is converted to the variation of magnetic force by magnetic circuits. Because of the capacitive property of the piezoelectric material, the device requires little current in order to maintain control of a constant force. The laminate composite can be fabricated easily and in small sizes. In this paper, we report the magnetic force control properties of a composite of Terfenol-D and piezoelectric material plates (PZTs) and discuss the design of the laminate composite. Our theoretical magnetic force formulation derived by an equivalent magnetic analysis and finite-element analysis of strain distribution in the Terfenol-D, and measurements with various thicknesses of PZT demonstrated that there are appropriate thicknesses to provide large variation of the magnetic force and energy conversion efficiency. Stacking the composites was found effective for increasing the effective area of the Terfenol-D.