Abstract
We introduce a manufacturing concept of variable capacity energy harvesters consisting of macroporous springs integrated within a conducting silicone rubber and dielectric. Printing and polymerising emulsion templates resulted in macroporous spring elements, which were coated with conducting silicone rubber to maintain the active contact surface. By increasing size and number of these springs, the capacitance change of the energy harvesters during compression and recovery increased from 0.4 nF/cm2 to 0.8 nF/cm2. During cyclic loading with 30 N at 2 Hz, the energy harvesters with macroporous springs delivered a power density of 0.58 µW/cm2 at a bias voltage of 50 V, which was 25 times higher than the control without springs. The energy harvesters provided a constant power output over three hours of cyclic loading (21,600 cycles), indicating their structural stability and the durability of the macroporous springs.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 109460 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Nano Energy |
Volume | 124 |
Early online date | 6 Mar 2024 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2024 |
Bibliographical note
We are grateful to Nesrine Battoul Debabèche (UniVie) for her help and ingenuity to take videos of energy harvesters while loading in compression.Data Availability Statement
Data will be made available on request.Funding
The authors acknowledge the EU FP7 funding through MATFLEXEND (grant number 604093) and Erasmus supporting VO for her research stay at University of Vienna.
Funders | Funder number |
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European Union | FP7 |
Keywords
- Elastomers
- Emulsion templating
- Macroporous polymers
- Spring element
- Variable capacity energy harvester
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment