Abstract
Here, a novel design of a mechanical energy harvester combining peak power output competitive with state-of-the-art energy harvester devices is reported, but with a design enabling full transience, or dissolution, of the harvester after 30 min upon triggering in basic water. The harvester incorporates a symmetric cell combining LixAl alloy electrodes and polyvinyl alcohol packaging that harvests mechanical energy due to the mechanical–electrochemical stress coupling between the electrodes. Prototype harvester devices demonstrate peak output power of 0.208 µW cm−2 with continuous energy generation up to 1.76 µJ cm−2 at a mechanical input frequency of 0.1 Hz. This work introduces a new class of power systems simultaneously tailored for transience, high-performance energy harvesting, and operation frequency relevant to wearable technologies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1800083 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials Technologies |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2018 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Asad Qaisrani and Monosol for PVA films and useful discussions related to this work. The authors would also like to thank Robin Midgett, Adam Cohn, Thomas Metke, Siyuan Jiang, and Jennifer Donohue for their insights and useful discussions. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Rizia Bardhan for use of optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy as well as VINSE staff for assistance with user facilities. This work was supported in part by the Vanderbilt Discovery Grant and NSF grant CMMI 1400424. K.S. was supported in part by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant 1445197.
Keywords
- electromechanical coupling
- energy harvester
- transient electronics
- transient power systems
- wearable electronics
