<p>With the explosion of wearable electronic devices, there is a growing challenge of power availability. Traditional sources of power for these devices are facing limitations, such as size, weight and frequency constraints; new energy conversion systems that can efficiently and reliably harvest energy from body motion are needed to address this growing demand.&nbsp;Dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs) and triboelectric devices have the potential to become practical energy harvesting devices that convert mechanical deformation and kinetic energy of polymer-based materials to electrical energy. Specifically, DEGs possess potential in wearable applications since they are light, flexible, and have high energy density. Typically, DEGs are passive systems that require an external circuit with high bias voltage to polarize the elastomer, which limits their potential applications. On the other hand, triboelectric devices gained particular attention recently due to their flexibility, portability, cost effectiveness and light weight. However, although triboelectric devices generate high voltage, the resulting current is low, and the total impedance is very high due to the intrinsic capacitive behavior, which is undesirable for applications. In this study, a novel hybrid triboelectric-DEG structure is designed and fabricated to take advantage of the positive attributes of both. Instead of an external circuit, the novel triboelectric-DEG utilizes the triboelectric effect to generate a bias voltage to polarize the elastomer. After the elastomer is polarized, the DEG can produce power when subjected to deformation. The main part of the triboelectric-DEG is composed of a VHB elastomer sandwiched between two single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/ionic liquid (IL)/ PDMS composites. Each SWCNT/IL/PDMS composite serves as both a compliant electrode and the contacting material of the triboelectric part, which simplifies the structure of the device and maximizes its function. A thin Teflon is used as a second contact layer; when the overall structure is stretched, the Teflon and the SWCNT/IL/PDMS composite come in contact then separate to generate the bias voltage through triboelectrification. The electrical conductivity and the stretchability of the SWCNT/IL/PDMS composite are maximized by tuning the weight percent of the SWCNT and IL. In addition, the structure of the device is determined by correlating the output power with different tensile strains and separation distances between the composite and Teflon. The resulting triboelectric-DEG can offset the shortcoming of conventional DEGs and greatly increase the feasibility of such device in wearable and mobile applications, to make polymer-based self-powered wearables a reality.</p>

a Study on the Performance of a Novel Hybrid Triboelectric-Dielectric Elastomer Generator Based on Pdms Composites

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/SMASIS/SMASIS2021/volume/85499

ASME 2021 Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems (SMASIS2021)

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