Tunable Buckled Beams with Mesoporous PVDF-TrFE/SWCNT Composite Film for Energy Harvesting

Abstract

By incorporating mesoporous piezoelectric materials and tuning mechanical boundary conditions a simple beam structure can significantly take advantage of limited mechanical displacements for energy harvesting. Specifically, we employed a mesoporous PVDF-TrFE composite thin film mixed with single wall carbon nanotubes to improve the formation of the crystalline phase in this piezoelectric polymer. The film was then patterned on a thin buckled beam to form a compact energy harvester, which was used to study the effects of two boundary conditions, including the end rotation angle and the location of a mechanical stop along the beam. We carefully designed controlled experiments using mesoporous PVDF-TrFE film and PVDF-TrFE/SWCNT composite films, both of which were tested under two cases of boundary conditions, namely, the rotation of the end-angle and the addition of a mechanical stop. The voltage and current of the energy harvester under these two boundary conditions were respectively increased by approximately 160.1% and 200.5% compared to the results of its counterpart without imposing any boundary conditions. Thereby, our study offers a promising platform for efficiently powering implantable and wearable devices for harnessing energy from the human body which would otherwise have been wasted.

Implantable Cardiac Kirigami‐Inspired Lead‐Based Energy Harvester Fabricated by Enhanced Piezoelectric Composite Film

“…First, the piezoelectric composite material offers both superior flexibility and electro‐mechanical coupling factor, which increase the energy‐harvesting efficacy of this Kirigami‐inspired energy harvester. [ 17 ] Second, the Kirigami design offers an effective shape morphing strategy that is able to create thin films based structures with unconventional mechanical and morphological responses. [ 18 ] Last, being seamlessly integrated with a clinical used lead‐based pacemaker, the energy harvester requires only a single, straightforward implantation process in a highly translational level to clinical settings.…”

Flexible Energy Harvester on a Pacemaker Lead Using Multibeam Piezoelectric Composite Thin Films

“…We designed an in vitro test to simulate the bending motion of a real pacemaker lead and to test the PDMS-infilled samples. 30 As the heart contracts and relaxes, the pacemaker's lead bends in a way that the tip of the lead travels a distance of approximately 3 cm, and the frequency is usually between 1 and 3 Hz for a healthy heart. A shaker providing 3 cm long strikes back and forth with 1 Hz frequency is used to simulate the motion of a heart.…”

“…PDMS is a biocompatible material widely used in biomedical applications due to its effectiveness in preventing biocorrosion, and here, it increases the relative permittivity of the piezoelectric composite film while maintaining its flexibility. We designed an in vitro test to simulate the bending motion of a real pacemaker lead and to test the PDMS-infilled samples . As the heart contracts and relaxes, the pacemaker’s lead bends in a way that the tip of the lead travels a distance of approximately 3 cm, and the frequency is usually between 1 and 3 Hz for a healthy heart.…”

Bioinspired liquid gating membrane-based catheter with anticoagulation and positionally drug release properties

“…Compared with previous materials (34,35), this bioinspired liquid gating membrane-based catheter (LGMC) has the advantage of tube size adaptivity and having anticoagulation and positionally drug release properties. Such a material, as an example, could potentially spark further experimental and theoretical efforts with the choice of different functional matrices (36,37) and gating liquids for the exploitation of more complex catheter applications.…”