Flexible Lead-Free Piezoelectric Composite Materials for Energy Harvesting Applications

Flexible Lead-Free Piezoelectric Composite Materials for Energy Harvesting Applications

Stuber, V.L. (TU Delft Novel Aerospace Materials)
Deutz, Daniella B. (University of Southern Denmark)
Bennett, James (Ceram Tec, Ruabon)
Cannel, David (Ceram Tec, Ruabon)
de Leeuw, D.M. (TU Delft Novel Aerospace Materials)
van der Zwaag, S. (TU Delft Novel Aerospace Materials)
Groen, W.A. (TU Delft Novel Aerospace Materials; TU Delft Safety and Security; Holst Centre)

2019

Vibrational piezoelectric energy harvesters are being investigated to replace batteries in embedded sensor systems. The energy density that can be harvested depends on the figure of merit, d33g33, where d33 and g33 are the piezoelectric charge and voltage coefficient. Commonly used piezoelectric materials are based on inorganic ceramics, such as lead zirconium titanate (PZT), as they exhibit high piezoelectric coefficients. However, ceramics are brittle, leading to mechanical failure under large cyclic strains and, furthermore, PZT is classified as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC). To circumvent these drawbacks, we fabricated quasi 1–3 potassium sodium lithium niobate (KNLN) ceramic fibers in a flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix. The fibers were aligned by dielectrophoresis. We demonstrate for the structured composites values of d33g33 approaching 18 pm3 J−1, comparable to that of state-of-the-art ceramic PZT. This relatively high value is due to the reduced inter-particle distance in the direction of the electric field. As a confirmation, the stored electrical energy for both material systems was measured under identical mechanical loading conditions. The similar values for KNLN/PDMS and PZT demonstrate that environmentally friendly, lead-free, mechanically compliant materials can replace state-of-the-art environmentally-less-desirable ceramic materials in piezoelectric vibrational energy harvesters.

alkaline niobates
dielectrophoresis
energy harvesting
lead-free piezoelectric materials
quasi 1–3 composites
quasi 1-3 composites

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9a5493a9-41eb-42f7-b634-91bda4db0cce

https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201800419

2019-03-01

2194-4288

Energy Technology (online), 7 (1), 177-185

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2019 V.L. Stuber, Daniella B. Deutz, James Bennett, David Cannel, D.M. de Leeuw, S. van der Zwaag, W.A. Groen