Dielectric elastomers are a type of electroactive polymers that can be conveniently used as sensors, actuators or energy harvesters and the latter is the focus of this review. The relatively high number of publications devoted to dielectric elastomers in recent years is a direct reflection of their diversity, applicability as well as nontrivial electrical and mechanical properties. This chapter provides a review of fundamental mechanical and electrical properties of dielectric elastomers and up-to-date information regarding new developments of this technology and it's potential applications for energy harvesting from various vibration sources explored over the past decade.
Dielectric elastomer (DE) generators may be used in harvesting energy from ambient vibrations. Based on existing research on the mechanical properties of a circular DE membrane, a DEbased dynamic vibro-impact system is proposed in this paper to convert vibrational energy into electrical one. The dimensional, electrical and dynamic parameters of the DE membrane are analysed and then used to numerically estimate the output voltage of the proposed system. The system output performances under harmonic excitation are further discussed. At last, the comparison study has been conducted with an electromagnetic energy harvesting system, served as a "shaking" flashlight.
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