Modelling, Fabrication, and Characterization For Improved Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

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MODELLING, FABRICATION, and CHARACTERIZATION for IMPROVED

PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTERS
Thesis · July 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28631.16801
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MODELLING, FABRICATION, and CHARACTERIZATION for
IMPROVED PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTERS
by
ALMUATASIM ALI ALOMARI
A DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics
in the School of Graduate Studies
Alabama A&M University
Normal, AL 35762
July 2016

ProQuest Number: 10191577

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ii
Copyright by
ALMUATASIM ALI ALOMARI
2016
iii
MODELLING, FABRICATION, and CHARACTERIZATION for IMPROVED
PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTERS
Alomari, Almuatasim Ali. PhD., Alabama A&M University, 2016. 211 pp.
Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Ashok K. Batra, PhD., Professor of Physics
The ambitious goal of this dissertation is to contribute its share to the scientific
researchers and academic community by demonstrate a versatile study on energy
harvesting via smart materials. Smart materials are amongst the current production modes
which generate clean and green energy. The advantages of smart materials include
ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric ceramics and composites in materials science
and technology of the 21st century are inconceivable. Their most current applications
include conventional sensors, actuators, batteries replacement, and switch. Further,
Piezoelectricity is the accumulation of electrical charges as a result of applying
mechanical stress on certain type of materials such as crystals, DNA, and protein, where
pyro-electricity is the accumulation of electrical charges from ambient environment from
temperature gauges or fluctuations.
In an incessant effort to increase the performance of smart materials devices researchers
in both academic and industrial communities in field of green energy have suggested
many techniques and procedures to increase the power generation capability and enhance
the bandwidth of thermal and vibration energy harvesters. In this study, the Euler-
Bernoulli beam Theory, lumped parameter model (LPM), and chain matrix method were
applied on various design and structure shape of smart materials to find the output
electrical parameters. The modeling and simulation investigations are accomplished using
iv
MATLAB program and COMSOL Multiphysics software. A low-cost fabrication
technique, of polyvinyl-dine difluoride (PVDF) with different amount of Lead Zirconate
Titanate (PZT), Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PMN-PT), and Multi-walled
Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) are introduced in this study as well. Later, the (Paint/
PZT) fabricated nanocomposites was tested for dielectric constants over a wide frequency
range at different temperatures. It was observed that the composites with higher
concentrations of PZT nanocomposite have higher dielectric constants than well-known
PVDF film. Finally, the performance of the piezoelectric and pyroelectric PMN-PT
single crystal with a (67:33) composition grown in our laboratory using unimorph device
structures was evaluated via modeling and experiments. The theoretical study was
implemented based on a distributed parameter electromechanical model and the
modelling procedure was approximated using the finite element analysis (FEA) to predict
the electromechanical behavior of the harvesters. The maximum power density at a
resonance frequency of 65 Hz and optimum resistance of 200 kΩ was 45 nW under a 0.5
g acceleration of vibration. By using pyroelectric effect along with the piezoelectric
effect, the output voltage of the energy harvester was found to be enhanced at the
optimum resistance and specific frequency values. It was noticed that the output voltage
was increased monotonically with temperature-difference (ΔT) and reaches up to 180%
of its original value under difference temperature of 1.7 oC.
KEY WORDS: PVDF, PMN-PT, piezoelectricity, pyro-electricity, MATLAB, COMSOL
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL.......................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS......................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ xviii
LIST OF SYMBOLS ....................................................................................................... xxi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... xxvii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1
1.1. Surrounding Energy Harvesting .................................................................................. 5

Vibration Energy Harvester .......................................................................................... 8
Thermal Energy HarvesterVibration............................................................................. 9
1.2. Vibration-to-Electric Energy Conversion .................................................................. 10
Electrostatic Energy Harvesting ................................................................................. 10
Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting ........................................................................... 11
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ................................................................................. 12
Magnetostrictive Energy Harvesting .......................................................................... 13
1.3. Piezoelectricity and Piezoelectric Materials .............................................................. 14
Piezoelectric Effect ..................................................................................................... 14
Piezoelectric Materials and Applications.................................................................... 15
1.4. Pyroelectricity and Pyroelectric Materials ................................................................. 18
1.5. Energy Harvesting via Piezoelectric/Pyroelectric Materials ..................................... 23
Problem Statement ............................................................................................................ 28
Objectives of the Investigation ......................................................................................... 29

Energy Harvesting Via Smart Materials ..................................................................... 29
Theoretical and Simulation Study............................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 31
2.1. Energy Harvesting Via Piezoelectric Effect .............................................................. 31
Energy Harvesting Via Piezoelectricity ...................................................................... 31
vi
2.2. Energy Harvesting and Storage via Smart Materials ................................................. 35
Energy Harvesting via Pyroelectricity ........................................................................ 35
Nanocomposites as Storage Devices .......................................................................... 38
CHAPTER 3 MATHMATICAL TECHNIQUE .............................................................. 41
3.1. Dielectric Theory and Constitutive Relations ............................................................ 41
3.2. Electromechanical Coupling Coefficient ................................................................... 44
3.3. Efficiency of Energy Conversion............................................................................... 45
3.4. Poling ......................................................................................................................... 46
3.5. Types of Piezoelectric Cantilever Beams .................................................................. 47
Unimorph Cantilever Beam ........................................................................................ 47
Bimorph Cantilever Beam .......................................................................................... 47
3.6. Damping Coefficient .................................................................................................. 49
3.7. Energy Transfer Via Pyroelectricity .......................................................................... 50
Energy Conversion in Pyroelectrics............................................................................ 50
Pyroelectric Effect and Process of Current Generation .............................................. 51
Ferroelectric Effect ..................................................................................................... 54
Ferroelectric Domains ................................................................................................. 55
Paraelectric Effect ....................................................................................................... 56
Phase Transition .......................................................................................................... 57
Pyroelectric Performance ............................................................................................ 58
IR Detector Figure-of-Merits ...................................................................................... 58
Euler-Bernoulli Theory ............................................................................................... 60
Eenery Harvesting Under Excitation of Clamped-free Beam..................................... 60
Eenery Harvesting Under Excitation of Clamped-Clamped Beam ............................ 63
3.8. Lumped Parameter Model (LPM) .............................................................................. 71
Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) ............................................................................ 71
Two Degree of Freedom (2DOF) ............................................................................... 72
Three Degree of Freedom (3DOF) ............................................................................. 74
3.9. Chain Matrix Method (CMM) ................................................................................... 77
Unimorph Beam Using CMM ................................................................................... 78
Magnifier Beam Using CMM .................................................................................... 81
Composition of the Model .......................................................................................... 83
Electrical Output Parameters Using CMM ................................................................ 86
CHAPTER 4 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS ................................................................. 88
4.1. Piezoelectric Material Fabrication ............................................................................. 88
4.2. Dielectric Measurement Technique ........................................................................... 89
4.3. Design and Fabrication of Pyroelectric Nanocomposite Films ................................. 91
Fabrication Procedure and Pyroelectric Set-up........................................................... 93
4.4. Piezoelectric Measurement Technique ...................................................................... 94
CHAPTER 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS............................................................... 96
5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 96
5.2. Calibration.................................................................................................................. 98
vii
5.3. Study of PVDF, PVDF/PZT, and PVDF/PZT with MWCNT Thick Films .............. 98
5.4. Study of PMN-PT Single Crystal ............................................................................ 105
5.5. Study of Clamped-Clamped Cantilever Beam ......................................................... 116
Electrode Response of Output Voltage ..................................................................... 117
Frequency Response of Output Voltage ................................................................... 117
Frequency Response of Output Current .................................................................... 119
Frequency Response of Output Power ...................................................................... 121
Simulation and Modelling of PEH Using MATLAB and COMSOL ....................... 124
5.6.Two Degree of Freedom Examination ...................................................................... 127
5.7.Three Degree of Freedom Examination .................................................................... 129
5.8.Experimental and Modelling Study of PEH Arrays ................................................. 131
5.9.Experimental, Simulation and Modelling Study of an EHDM ................................. 143
5.10.Simulation of Energy Harvesting from Pyroelectricity .......................................... 152
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................... 158
CHAPTER 7 FUTURE RESEARCH ............................................................................. 164
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 166
VITA
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1.1. Selected battery-operated systems ............................................................................... 7
1.2. Characteristics of various energy sources available in the surrounding

and harvested power .................................................................................................... 8
1.3. Some ambient mechanical energy sources every day that can be
harvested for electricity.............................................................................................. 24
1.4. Acceleration magnitude and resonance frequency of some ambient

mechanical energy sources. ....................................................................................... 25
5.1. Dimensions and properties of piezoelectric cantilever beam and

plate films investigated. ............................................................................................. 98
5.2. The dimensions of piezoelectric PZT disc. ................................................................ 98
5.3. Resonance frequency, voltage and power output at optimum resistance 1 MΩ. ..... 102
5.4. Piezo/Pyro voltage, temperature difference, required time,

and percentage increase in voltage (%) for PMN-PT single
crystal at different frequency values ........................................................................ 115
5.5. Dimensions, and electromechanical parameters of the model. ................................ 116
5.6. Short circuit and open circuit resonance frequencies of the PEH
for the first three vibration modes ............................................................................ 119
5.7. Output voltage, output current, and output power FRF at optimum
load resistance for the first three mode shapes ........................................................ 123
5.8. Experimental, simulation, and modelling of the first three mode shape
with percentage error of PEH .................................................................................. 124
5.9. The dimensions, electrical, and mechanical properties of 2DOF system ................ 127
5.10. The dimensions, electrical, and mechanical properties of 3DOF system .............. 129
5.11. Properties of cantilever beams investigated ........................................................... 133
ix
5.12. Resonance frequency, voltage and power output parameters of multiple
piezoelectric unimorph cantilever beams............................................................... 134
5.13. Experimental, and COMSOL resonance frequency results of multiple UCB’s .... 142
5.14. Properties of cantilever beams investigated. Magnifier end mass=5 g,

unimorph end mass=1 g ......................................................................................... 144
5.15. Resonance frequency, voltage and power output parameters of

CPEH and EHDM .................................................................................................. 148
5.16. Experimental, MATLAB, and COMSOL resonance frequency

results of EHDM ................................................................................................... 151
5.17. A list of composite films fabricated with various volume

fraction of modified PZT ....................................................................................... 152
5.18. Dielectric, pyroelectric, and Figures-of-Merit of Paint/PZT composites films ..... 157
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1.1. (a) A cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester tested under

base excitation (photo by A. Alomari, 2016, Green Energy Lab.)
and (b) its represent in LPM.. ................................................................................. 4
1.2. The market size consumption of WSN’s.. ................................................................... 6
1.3. Energy harvesting process as alternative for low power electronic devices. ............... 7
1.4. Electrostatic energy harvesting process (a) In-Plane Overlap

(b) In-Plane Gap Closing (c) Out-of-Plane Gap Closing. .......................................... 11
1.5. Electromagnetic energy harvesting process where a moving

magnet vibrates with respect to a fixed coil............................................................... 11
1.6. Two types of piezoelectric energy harvesters (a) d31 (b) d33. .................................... 12
1.7. Main types of Magnetostrictive energy harvesters (a) Force-driven

(b) Velocity-driven..................................................................................................... 13
1.8. Schematic diagram of PZT unit cell (a) in symmetric cubic state
above Curie temperature (b) under external load state below Curie temperature. .... 15
1.9. (a) Quartz crystal, (b) Lead titanate (PbTiO3), (c) Langasite
(La3Ga5SiO14), (d) Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT),(e) Potassium Niobate
(KNbO3), (f) Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3), (g) Lithium Tantalate (LiTaO3),
(h) PVDF. ................................................................................................................... 17
1.10. Thermodynamic interactions among thermal, mechanical

and electrical properties of a smart material: (piezoelectrics;
pyroelectrics; and ferroelectrics).............................................................................. 21
1.11. Typical block diagram of piezoelectric and pyroelectric harvesting system. .......... 23
1.12. Schematic of piezoelectric cantilever harvester configuration and its voltage. ....... 26
1.13. Schematic diagram for the energy storing circuit .................................................... 27
1.14. A lumped-parameter model of a pyroelectric element. ........................................... 27
xi
3.1. Monocrystal versus Polycrystal material structure. ................................................... 42
3.2. Piezoelectric material sheet under a uniaxial stress ................................................... 45
3.3. Poling process: (a) Before poling (b) During poling (c) After poling. ...................... 46
3.4. Piezoelectric unimorph cantilever.............................................................................. 48
3.5. Piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers in serial connections.

Arrows indicate the poling direction.......................................................................... 48
3.6. Piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers in parallel connections.

Arrows indicate the poling direction.......................................................................... 48
3.7. Schematic of pyroelectric sample with dipoles and polarization vector:

(a) without electrodes; (b) with electrodes and connected to an ammeter
at constant temperature; (c) while being heated; and (d) while being cooled. .......... 53
3.8. Schematic diagram of typical electric displacement D/Ps versus electric

field, E, cycle for Ferroelectric and Paraelectric materials ........................................ 55
3.9. Schematic diagram of electric displacement versus electric Field cycle

for a dielectric material that has transitions from Ferro to Paraelectric
phase at temperatures below and above the Curie temperature ................................. 56
3.10. Schematic diagram of unimorph piezoelectric beam with tip mass ........................ 60
3.11. Schematic diagram of clamped-clamped beam with PEH at both clamped ends. ... 64
3.12. The simple form of cantilever beam using SDOF model. ....................................... 71
3.13. The schematic diagram of 2DOF piezoelectric energy harvesting system .............. 73
3.14. The schematic diagram of 3DOF piezoelectric energy harvesting system .............. 75
3.15. (a) Conventional Piezoelectric Energy harvester with mass

(CPEH) (b) Energy harvester with dynamic magnifier and mass (EHDM) ........... 77
3.16. Piezoelectric unimorph beam ................................................................................... 78
xii
3.17. Bending moments M1 M2, transverse shear forces F1 F2,
vertical velocities U1 U2 and rotational velocities Φ1Φ2 at the ends.
Same here – narrow arrow ends otherwise it dominated the image. ....................... 83
3.18. Simple cutting elements of the energy harvester with the dynamic magnifier ........ 84
4.1. A summary of composite film fabrication process .................................................... 89
4.2. The block diagram of experimental set-up, (b) A novel multifunctional

sample holder for dielectric characterization ............................................................ 90
4.3. Schematic block diagram of electrical characterization for energy

harvesting elements via pyroelectricity ..................................................................... 94
4.5. Schematic diagram of the piezoelectric cantilever beam with Piezo-film ................. 95
5.1. Experimental setup used for the frequency response measurements

of a unimorph cantilever arrays (photos by A. Alomari, 2016):
(1) Shaker with an accelerometer (Bruel&Kjaer 4810) and the
cantilever arrays; (2) Laser vibrometer (Microtrack II) MTI; (3) Fixed
gain amplifier (Bruel&Kjaer 2718); (4) Control function generator
(GF8046 ELENCO); (5) Digital multimeter (Keithley 2110); (6)
Variable resistances box; (7) Picoscope; (8) Data acquisition system. ...................... 97
5.2. Variation of (a) output voltage (b) output power of PVDF, PVDF/PZT,
PVDF/PZT/MWCNT, and PZT thick disc versus frequency attached
at the end clamped of copper beam with tip mass .................................................... 99
5.3. Variation of output voltage of PVDF, PVDF/PZT, PVDF/PZT/MWCNT,

and PZT thick disc versus load resistance attached at the end clamped
of copper beam with tip mass .................................................................................. 100
5.4. Variation of output power of PVDF, PVDF/PZT, PVDF/PZT/MWCNT,

and PZT thick disc versus load resistance attached at the end clamped
of copper beam with tip mass .................................................................................. 101
5.5. A normal mesh results of (a) PVDF film (b) PZT disc with a copper
cantilever beam using COMSOL ............................................................................. 103
5.6. The results of (a) PVDF film (b) PZT disc with a copper cantilever
beam for first resonance frequency using COMSOL .............................................. 104
5.7. Real part of dielectric constant (ε') and imaginary part of dielectric
constant (ε'') vs. temperature of PMN-PT single crystal at different frequencies ... 105
xiii
5.8. A plot of log scale of ac conductivity against inverse of the temperature
in Kelvin scale for the PMN-PT single crystal ........................................................ 107
5.9. A photograph of magnified the aluminum beam with the PMN-PT and
AC-DC electric circuit ............................................................................................. 108
5.10. The displacement of tip mass versus frequency using the laser ............................ 109
5.11. Frequency dependence of output peak voltage (V) with proof mass of 2.5 g ....... 110
5.12. Frequency dependence of output peak power (P) with proof mass of 2.5 g .......... 110
5.13. Simulated and measured output voltage and output power magnitudes
versus load resistance for single patch of PMN-PT (SDOF) at 65 Hz .................. 111
5.14. Measured output voltage and output power magnitudes versus base
acceleration for single patch of PMN-PT (SDOF) at 65 Hz .................................. 112
5.15. Output voltage stored in rechargeable battery versus time .................................... 113
5.16. Variation of the pyroelectric coefficient with temperature for PMN-PT .............. 114
5.17. Variation of the output voltage at initial and final temperature for
PMN-PT single crystal at different frequency values ............................................ 115
5.18. Effect of PVDF with electrode pair length on percentage output

voltage FRF at first resonance frequency .............................................................. 118
5.19. Voltage FRF for six different values of load resistance (with the
enlarged view of Mode 1 resonance showing the short circuit and
open circuit behaviors) ........................................................................................... 118
5.20. Variation of voltage output with load resistance for base excitations
at the short circuit and open circuit resonance frequencies of the first
vibration mode ....................................................................................................... 119
5.21. Current FRF for six different values of load resistance (with the
enlarged view of mode 1 resonance showing the short circuit and
open circuit behaviors) ........................................................................................... 120
5.22. Variation of current output with load resistance for base excitations
vibration mode ....................................................................................................... 121
xiv
5.23. Power output FRF for six different values of load resistance (with the
enlarged views of Mode 1 resonance showing the short circuit and open
circuit behaviors) ................................................................................................... 122
5.24. Variation of power output with load resistance for base excitations
vibration mode ....................................................................................................... 123
5.25. First three vibration modes of clamped-clamped beam (a) MATLAB

(b, c, d) COMSOL ................................................................................................. 126
5.26. Dimensionless optimal power output versus Ω for different single-

degree-of-freedom (SDOF) and two degree of freedom (2DOF) .......................... 128
5.27. Dimensionless optimal power output versus Ω for different single-

degree-of-freedom (SDOF), two degree of freedom (2DOF), and
three degree of freedom (3DOF)............................................................................ 130
5.28. Experimental setup used for the frequency response measurements

of a unimorph cantilever arrays ............................................................................. 132
5.29. Close views of the proposed system tested under base excitation
(a) single UCB (b) multiple UCB’s ....................................................................... 132
5.30. Experimental data of FRF of single UCB at various load resistance

of output (a) voltage (b) power .............................................................................. 135
5.31. Experimental data of FRF of multiple UCB’s at various load resistance

of output (a) voltage (b) power .............................................................................. 136
5.32. Experimental data of (a) output voltage and (b) output power versus
load resistance of single UCB at resonance frequency .......................................... 138
5.33. Experimental data of (a) output voltage and (b) output power versus
load resistance of multiple UCB’s at first fifth of mode frequency shapes ........... 139
5.34. (a) Designed model, and (b) Meshing proposed system in COMSOL .................. 140
5.35. Modeling the resonance frequency using COMSOL for multiple

UCB’s (a) First mode at 22.98 Hz (b) Second mode at 30.91 Hz
(c) Third mode at 48.70 Hz (d) Fourth mode at 72.1 Hz (e) Fifth
mode at 91.7 Hz ..................................................................................................... 141
xv
5.36. Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up ...................................................... 143
5.37. Experimental data of CPEH and EHDM at load resistance

500 kΩ of (a) output voltage and (b) Output power versus frequency .................. 145
5.38. Experimental and theoretical data of (a) output voltage and (b) output
power versus frequency of CPEH at load resistance 500kΩ. ................................ 145
power versus frequency of EHDM at load resistance 500kΩ.. .............................. 146
power versus load resistance of EHDM at second mode shape............................. 146
5.41. The first three mode shapes of CPEH obtained from the (a) theoretical
analysis (MATLAB R2015a), where the first mode is 3.57 Hz, second
mode is 37.54 Hz, and third mode is 117.66 (b) COMSOL software,
where (i) the first mode is 9.29 Hz, (ii) second mode is 37.44 Hz, and
(iii) third mode is 108.36 ....................................................................................... 149
5.42. The first six mode shapes of the EHDM structure obtained from
the theoretical analysis (MATLAB R2015a), where the first resonance
is mainly due to the magnifier and the second resonance is mainly due
to the harvesting beam: (a) magnifier (fn = 3.58 Hz); (b) beam
(fn = 6.81Hz); (c) magnifier (fn = 30.95Hz); (d) beam (fn = 42.69 Hz);
(e) magnifier (fn = 95.08Hz); (f) beam (fn = 119.54 Hz). . ................................... 150
5.43. The first six mode shapes of the EHDM structure obtained from the
FEM (COMSOL 5.0), where the first resonance is mainly due to the
magnifier and the second resonance is mainly due to the harvesting
beam: (a) magnifier (fn = 4.07 Hz); (b) beam (fn = 7.65Hz); (c) magnifier
(fn = 30.99Hz); (d) beam (fn = 44.45 Hz); (e) magnifier (fn = 95.21Hz);
(f) beam (fn = 130.76 Hz). ...................................................................................... 150
5.44. The dielectric constants ε' of various Paint/PZT composite films ......................... 153
5.45. The dielectric loss ε'' of various Paint/PZT composite films ................................. 154
5.46. The pyroelectric coefficient (FI) of the Paint/PZT films as a function

of the processing temperature ................................................................................ 155
5.47. The pyroelectric coefficient (FV) of the Paint/PZT films as a function

xvi
5.48. The pyroelectric coefficient (FD) of the Paint/PZT films as a function
5.49. The pyroelectric coefficient (FE) of the Paint/PZT films as a function

xvii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ABX3 Perovskite Structure
AC Alternative Current
AFM Atomic Force microscopy
Ag Silver
Ag-NP Silver Nanoparticles
Al Aluminum
AlPO4 Aluminum Phosphate (Berlinite)
BaTiO3 Barium Titanate
Ca Calcium
CNT Carbon Nanotubes
Cu Copper
Ce-NFC Portland Cement-Nanocarbon Fiber Reinforced
DC Direct Current
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid
DTGPS Deuterated Triglycine Phosphate-Sulfate
DTGS Deuterated Triglycine Sulfate
EH Energy Harvester
EHDM Energy Harvester with a Dynamic Magnifier
FOM’s Figure of Merits
FRF Frequency Response Function
xviii
FEA Finite Element Analysis
GaPO4 Gallium Orthophosphate
IR Infrared
KNbO3ICP Potassium Niobate
KS Knock Sensor
LCR Inductance, Capacitance and Resistance meter
LiNbO3 Lithium Niobate
LiTaO3 Lithium Tantalate
MAP Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor
MWCNT Multiwall Carbon Nano Tube
MEK Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone
MEMS Microelectromechanical Systems
NP Nanoparticles
NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Na2WO3 Sodium tungstate
NPL Non-Piezoelectric Layer
PVEH’s Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesters
PbTiO3 Lead Titanate (PT)
Pb[ZrxTi1-x]O3 Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT)
PVDF Polyvinylidene Fluoride
P(VDF-TrFE) Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride-Trifluoroethylene)
PLT Lead Lanthanum Titanate
xix
PLZT Lead Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate
PMN-PT Lead Magnesium Niobate – Lead Titanate
PT Lead Titanate
PV Photovoltaic
PVA Poly-Vinyl Alcohol
PVDF Polyvinylidene Fluoride
PVF Polyvinyl fluoride
PZT Lead Zirconate Titanate
PEH Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting
PCB’s Piezoelectric Cantilevered Beams
PUC Piezoelectric Unimorph Cantilever
PL Piezoelectric Layer
RF Radio Frequency
RMS Root Mean Square
SHM Structural Health Monitoring
Si Silicon
TGS Triglycine Sulfate
UV Ultraviolet
ZnO Zinc Oxide
ZnO-NP Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles
xx
LIST OF SYMBOLS
C Capacitance
A Capacitor Plate Area
ε Dielectric Constant
V Voltage
t Thickness or Plate Separation
Q Surface Charge
E
s pq Elastic Compliance Tensor at Constant Electric Field
 ikT Dielectric Constant Tensor under Constant Stress
d pk Piezoelectric Constant Tensor
Sp Mechanical Strain in p Direction
Di Electric Displacement in i Direction
Tq Mechanical Stress in q Direction
Ek Electric field in k Direction
k ij Electromechanical Coupling Coefficient
Q Quality factor
L Effective Mass (LPM)
1/C Stiffness (LPM)
R Damping Coefficient (LPM) or Electrical Resistance of Piezo-Patch
xxi
δ Logarithmic Decrement
ζ Damping Ratio
m Effective Mass or Mass per Unit Length of the Beam
k Spring Constant
p Pyroelectric Coefficient
θ Temperature or Electromechanical Coupling Coefficient
Ps Spontaneous Polarization
σ Constant Elastic Stress
E Electric Field
Ip Pyroelectric Current
A Electrode Surface Area
p Pyroelectric Coefficient
dT/dt Rate of Change of Temperature
 Area Enclosed by the D-E Diagram of the Hysteresis Loop
TCurie Curie Temperature
T1 Initial Temperature
∆TCurie Temperature Difference Between Two-Phased Transitions
DSat Saturation Electric Displacement
Eb Breakdown Voltage
tD Short Discharge Period
FI Current Responsivity FoM
FV Voltage responsivity FoM
xxii
FD Detectivity FoM
D1, D2, D3, D4 Diodes
c' Volume Specific Heat
εo Permittivity of Free Space
W Incident Power
EI Bending Stiffness
ca Viscous Air Damping Coefficient
cs Strain-Rate Damping Coefficient
w(x,t) Transverse Deflection of the Beam Relative to a Natural Axis
wrel(x,t) Transverse Displacement Relative to the Clamped End of the Beam
wb(x,t) Base Displacement
r (x) Mass Normalized Eigenfunction
 r (t ) Modal Coordinate of the Clamped-Free Beam for the r-th Mode
Br Frequency Parameter of the r-th Mode
δrs Kronecker Delta
Cr Modal Amplitude Constant
csI Equivalent Damping Term due to Structural Viscoelasticity
cs Equivalent Coefficient of Strain Rate Damping
I Equivalent area moment of inertia
ca Air Damping Coefficient
M Internal Moment of the Cantilever
wb Base Motion
xxiii
YI Bending stiffness of the composite cross section
Ys Young’s Modulus for Substructure
Yp Young’s Modulus for PVDF
hs Thickness of Substructure
hp Thickness of PVDF
w Width of the Piezoelectric Energy Harvester
d31 Piezoelectric Coefficient
hpc Distance from the Center of the PVDF Layer to the Neutral Axis
w Width of the Beam
r (x) Normal Mode of the System
r (t ) Modal Coordinate of the Clamped–Clamped Beam for rth Mode
ωr Damped Angular Frequency
D3 Electrical Displacement
T1 Axial Stress
S1 Axial Strain
E3 Electrical Field of Generator
 33
T
Permittivity at Constant Stress
Rl Load Resistance
τc Time Constant of the Circuit
vout Amplitude of Output Voltage
ω Driving Frequency
i Imaginary Number
xxiv
ηr Amplitude of the Modal Coordinate of a Clamped-Clamped Beam
Yo Amplitude of the Base Translation
P Output power
uo Harmonic Base Displacement
mt Tip Mass
Ku Effective bending rigidity of the entire unimorph beam
Km Effective bending rigidity of the magnifier beam
Nu Constant of the electro-mechanical conversion
λu wave number
1   4 Coefficients determined from the boundaries conditions
ε' Real Part of the Dielectric Permittivity
ε'' Imaginary Part of the Dielectric Permittivity
Cp Terminal Parallel Capacitance
tan δ Loss Tangent
Vac Amplitude of the Peak-to-Peak AC Small-Signal Voltage
L Length of the Beam
ρp Mass Density of the PVDF
ρs Mass Density of the Substrate
f rsc Frequency at Short Circuit
f roc Frequency at Open Circuit
c1 Primary Oscillator Damping Coefficient
c2 Secondary Oscillator Damping Coefficient
xxv
c2 Third Oscillator Damping Coefficient
α1 Piezo-Insert Force Factor
m1 Primary Oscillator Mass
m2 Secondary Oscillator Mass
m3 Third Oscillator Mass
k1 Primary Oscillator Stiffness
k2 Secondary Oscillator Stiffness
k3 Third Oscillator Stiffness
Ω Ohm
xxvi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank everyone who has helped me in my journey towards a PhD.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Ashok Batra, for his valuable
guidance and training during the course of my study, and discuss and support the
different ideas that come to my mind.
My sincere gratitude also to my co-advisor and chairman of physics department Dr.
Mohan Aggarwal for his support and helpful comments in my work and for letting me
use the Material Science Laboratories which were very helpful in my research.
I also would like to extend my appreciation to Dr. Anup Sharma for finical support
and providing inspiration to me at all times. Special Thanks to Dr. Chance Glenn, Dean,
College of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences for his keen interest in this
work and his valuable support.
Special thanks and gratitude to Dr. Christopher Bowen from the Department of
Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath for his guidance and helpful. Also, I
would like to thank Dr. Arjun Tan and Dr. Marius Schamschula for their guidance and
kindness as well. I would like to extend my appreciation to my PhD. committee Dr. Alak
and Dr. Zhang for valuable helping and support. My special thanks to Dr. Adnan
Elkhaldy from Chemistry Department at AAMU and Dr. Abdalla Elsamadicy from
University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) at Physics Department for helping me to
xxvii
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting
Many materials, both natural and synthetic, exhibit piezoelectricity. Crystals which
acquire a charge when compressed, twisted, or distorted are said to be piezoelectric. This
provides a convenient transducer effect between mechanical and electrical oscillations.
The generation of an electric potential in certain non-conducting materials under
mechanical stress (such as pressure or vibration) can work in either d33 mode or d31 mode
as shown in Figure 1.6. (Batra, 2016).
(a) (b)
Figure 1.6. Two types of piezoelectric energy harvesters (a) d31 (b) d33.
In d31 mode, piezoelectric material is polarized in the direction perpendicular to the
lateral force as shown in Figure 1.6(a). In d33 mode, piezoelectric material is polarized in
the direction parallel to the applied force as shown in Figure 1.6(b). Piezoelectric
cantilever beam in d31 mode is more popular used because it produces high lateral stress
under external pressure or force effect. Piezoelectric materials can be divided into four
different categories: polycrystalline ceramics, single crystals, polymers, and composites.
In single crystal materials, positive and negative ions are organized in a periodic fashion
throughout the entire material except for the occasional crystalline defects. One of the
most widely used piezoelectric single crystals is the solid solution of lead magnesium
12
niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT). In contrast, ceramics, such as lead zirconate titanate
(PZT) are polycrystalline materials and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a polymer
material. In conclude, piezoelectric energy harvesters offer advantages including high
energy conversion, high output voltage but low current level, and high output impedance.
Magnetostrictive Energy Harvesting
Magnetostrictive materials have specific properties of showing a coupling
relationship between strain and stress mechanical quantities, and magnetic and induction
field strength. Magnetostrictive materials have constitutive relationship that directly
couple mechanical and/or thermal variables to magnetic variables and they are used to
build actuators or sensors problem (Wang & Yuan 2008; Benatar, 2005).
Magnetostrictive materials have several common materials, such as iron and nickel and
they have different advantages including ultra-high coupling coefficient, high flexibility,
suited to high frequency vibration, and no depolarization problem (Davino, 2013).
Magnetostrictive harvesters are divided in two main categories, direct force or force-
driven and inertial or velocity-driven as shown in Figure 1.7.
(a) (b)
Figure 1.7 Main types of Magnetostrictive energy harvesters (a) Force-driven (b)
Velocity-driven.
13
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Energy Harvesting Via Piezoelectric
Energy Harvesting via Piezoelectricity
In this section we present the most recent and common research on harvesting energy
through piezoelectric materials. Umeda et al. (1996, 1997), Xu et al. (1998), Goldfarb
and Jones (1999) measured the output power efficiency of piezoelectric materials
(Umeda et al., 1996; Umeda et al., 1997; Xu et al., 1998; Goldfarb & Jones, 1999) .
Kymissis et al. (1998) investigated power generation from piezoelectric shoes; it was
determined that the average generated power is about 1.3 mW at 0.9 Hz when the load
resistance is 250 kΩ (Kymissis et al., 1998). Glynne-Jones et al. (2001) studied the
electrical power of piezoelectric thick-film from harmonic excitation, it was claimed that
the maximum power output was around 3 μW under a resonant frequency (Glynne-Jones
et al., 2001). Ramsay and Clark (2001) investigated the power harvesting from a 1 cm2
piezoelectric plate, it was observed that the produced power is between microwatt to
milliwatt which can be useful in vivo bio MEMS (Ramsay & Clark, 2001).
31
One way to improve the efficiency of energy harvesting systems is the impedance
matching between a piezoelectric energy harvester and electrical circuit configuration.
Kasyap et al. (2002) developed a converter circuit with an impedance that could be
changed to match to that of a piezoelectric energy harvester (Kasyap et al., 2002). Ottman
et al. (2002) investigations of adding an adaptive control dc-dc converter to maximize the
output power from piezoelectric energy harvester revealed that the output power could be
enhanced by over 400% as compared without using dc-dc converter (Ottman et al., 2002).
Meninger et al. (2001) added an extra capacitor to provide the maximum energy transfer,
which modified the transduction process (Meninger et al., 2001). Richards et al. (2004)
and Shu et al. (2006) developed an analytic formula to predict the energy conversion
efficiency of piezoelectric energy harvesters in case of AC power output (Richards et al.,
2004; Shu & Lien, 2006). Guan et al. (2007) studied the efficiencies of energy harvesting
circuits considering the storage device voltages (Guan & Liao, 2007).
Recently, piezoelectric cantilevered beams (PCB’s) under base or ambient excitation
have gained increased attention due to their ability to display high amounts of strain.82
Ambient vibrations suitable for energy harvesting can be found in various aspects of
human experience, such as buildings, bridges, trains and etc. Many researchers and
scientists in both field of science and engineering have studied the linear effect of PCB’s
under base excitation experimentally and theoretically. Sodano et al. (2004, 2005)
developed a model based on Rayleigh-Ritz discrete formulation to predict the amount of
power generated from a piezoelectric cantilever beam (Sodano et al., 2004; Sodano etal.,
2005). Similarly, Lu et al. (2004) developed a model for a cantilever type piezoelectric
32
CHAPTER 3
MATHMATICAL THECHNIQUE
3.1. Dielectric Theory and Constitutive Relations
To understand the theory of piezoelectric materials it is convenient to begin
explaining the basics technique of dielectric theory. The electric properties of dielectric
substances are usually described in terms of the dielectric constant. A dielectric material
is an electric insulator that can be polarized by applying an electric field. When electric
field is applied to a dielectric material its molecules respond by forming microscopic
electric dipole and their atomic nuclei move a little distance in the direction of the field,
while their electrons move a little distance in the opposite direction. This produces a
macroscopic bound charge in the material (Fröhlich, 1958). The polar axis is an
imaginary line that runs through the center of both charges on the molecule. In a
monocrystal the polar axes of all of the dipoles lie in one direction. The crystal is said to
be symmetrical because if you were to cut the crystal at any point, the resultant polar axes
of the two pieces would lie in the same direction as the original. In a polycrystal, there
are different regions within the material that have a different polar axis. It is
asymmetrical because there is no point at which the crystal could be cut that would leave
41
the two remaining pieces with the same resultant polar axis illustrates this concept
(Ajitsaria, 2008). The difference between the monocrystal and polycrystal structure is
illustrated in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1. Monocrystal versus Polycrystal material structure (Caliò et al., 2013)
The defining equations for high permittivity dielectrics are:
A
C (3.1)
t
And the macroscopic surface charge is given by:
AV
Q (3.2)
t
Where, C is the capacitance, A is capacitor plate area, ε is the dielectric constant, V is the
voltage, t is the thickness or plate separation, and Q is the surface charge.
The piezoelectric effect is described in terms of constitutive equations in the
following standard form (Ikeda, 1996; Thompson, 2002; Chopra & Sirohi, 2013):
S p  s pq
E
Tq  d pk Ek (3.3)
Di  d iqTq   ikT Ek (3.4)
42
3.7. Euler-Bernoulli Theory
Energy Harvesting under Excitation of Clamped-free Beam
Distributed parameter model can be used to describe precisely the unimorph
cantilever beam by a set of coupled partial differential equations using well-known
Lagrange’s principle or virtual principle. The suggested unimorph cantilever beams
contain a one substrate beam layer and one piezoelectric layer with different number of
tip mass at free end as shown in figure 3.10.
Tip mass Piezoelectric layer Substrate material
Figure 3.10. Schematic diagram of unimorph piezoelectric beam with tip mass
The equation of motion of clamped-free end Euler-Bernoulli beam under damped,
base displacement, and transverse displacement conditions are given by: (Erturk, 2009)
 4 wrel ( x, t )  5 wrel ( x, t ) wrel ( x, t )  2 wrel ( x, t )  2 wb ( x, t ) w ( x, t )

EI  cs I  ca m  m  ca b (3.24)
x 4
x t
4
t t 2
t 2
t
where EI is the bending stiffness and m is the mass per unit length of the beam, ca is the
60
viscous air damping coefficient and cs is the strain-rate damping coefficient, wrel(x,t) is
the transverse displacement relative to the clamped end of the beam, and wb(x,t) is the
base displacement.
The boundary conditions for the relative vibratory motion of the beam can be written
as (Erturk, 2009, Banks & Inman, 1991):
wrel ( x, t )
wrel (0, t )  0, 0 (3.25)
x x 0
  2 wrel ( x, t )  3 wrel ( x, t )    3 wrel ( x, t )  5 wrel ( x, t ) 

 EI  c I   0,  EI  c I   0 (3.26)
x 2 x 2 t  x L x 3 x 4 t  x L
s s
 
Based on separation variable theorem, the solution of Eq. (3.24) can be represented by:

wrel ( x, t )  r ( x) r (t ) (3.26)
r 1
where r (x) and  r (t ) are the mass normalized eigenfunction and the modal coordinate
of the clamped-free beam for the r-th mode, respectively. Therefore, the resulting mass
normalized eigenfunction of the r-th vibration mode is
 r ( x) 
1
cosh Br x  cos Br x   r sinh Br x  sin Br x  (3.27)
mL
where Br =λr/L is the frequency parameter of the r-th mode obtained from the solution of
following characteristic equation:
1  cos cosh  0 (3.28)
and σr is written as:
sinh r  sin r
 (3.29)
coshr  cosr
61
 2
(1   ) 
V  2   2  2 j 2  
V  (3.89)
m1 2U o   4  jr  1
1  (1   ) 2  2 j 1   2 
     2
     jrk 2   1
 2 j 2  e
and the dimensionless power is
2
 2
(1   )  2
P rk e2  2 (   2  2 j 2)
P  (3.90)

m1  2U o 2
(r) 2  1 
1  (1   ) 2  2 j 1   2
 4  jrke2 

1  (   2  2 j 2)  jr  1

where the dimensionless parameters are
2  2
 ,   , r  1CRL , ke2  (3.91)
1 1 Ck1
Three Degree of Freedom
The three degree of freedom (3DOF) system may increase the number of resonance
frequency peaks and widen broadband frequency. The 3DOF is shown in Figure 3.14
with increase number of small masses attached at the front of main PEH system. The
governing equations of motion that describe 3DOF system can be written as:
m1u1  k1 (u1  u o )  c1 (u1  u o )  k 2 (u1  u 2 )  c 2 (u1  u 2 )  k 3 (u1  u 3 )  c3 (u1  u 3 )  V (3.92)
m2 u2  k 2 (u 2  u1 )  c2 (u 2  u1 ) (3.93)
m3u3  k3 (u3  u2 )  c3 (u3  u2 ) (3.94)

V
  (u1  uo )  C pV (3.95)
R
74
Figure 3.14. Schematic diagram of 3DOF piezoelectric energy harvesting system
Let x  u1  uo , y1  u2  u1 , y2  u3  u1 , and assume m1  m2  m3
In order to conduct the dimensionless analysis, all the parameters are normalized by
k1 k2 k3
1  , 2  , 3 
m1 m2 m3
c1 c2 c3
1  , 2  , 3  (3.96)
2 k1 m1 2 k 2 m2 2 k 3 m3
m2   
 , r  RC p 1 ,   , 1  2 ,  2  3
m1 1 1 1
By using Laplace transformation and use s=iω, the governing equations become as:

( 2  12  2i11 ) x  ( 22  2i 2 2 ) y1  ( 32  2i 33 ) y 2  V   2uo (3.97)
m1
  2 x  ( 2  22  2i 2 2) y1   2 u o (3.98)
75
  2 x  ( 2  32  2i 33) y 2   2 uo (3.99)
1
  i x  (  iC p )V  0 (3.100)
R
Solving the previous equations gives the following dimensionless output voltage:
1 1
(1  2 )  2 (  2 )
    2i 21  2    2i3 2
2 2 2
V 1
(3.101)
 1 1  ir  1
1  (1  2 )2  2i1  4 ( 2  2 )  2  1
 1    2i 21  2    2i3 2  irke 
2 2
and the dimensionless power is giving as:
2
1 1
(1  2 )  2 ( 2 2  2 2 )
rke 
2 2
1    2i 21  2    2i3 2
P (3.102)
(r)2  1  1 1  irk 2

1  (1  2 )2  2i1  4 ( 2 2  2 2 )   e
 1    2i 
2 1  2    2i 
3 2   ir  1
2
where k e2 
C p k1
3.9. Chain Matrix Method (CMM)
This part examined the influence of attaching a mass at the front of unimorph beam
with dynamic magnifier on harvested power and bandwidth of the device. Energy
harvesters with dynamic magnifier configurations are of interest due to their ability to
work at different resonance frequencies as well as magnify the bandwidth of the
harvester. One of the simplest configurations of a conventional piezoelectric energy
harvester (CPEH) devices is a tip mass attached at the front of a piezoelectric cantilever
76
CHAPTER 4
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
4.1. Piezoelectric Material Fabrication
The conventional energy harvester (EH) was fabricated by solution casting technique
using brush technique method at room temperature. The 0-3 connectivity nano-composite
films were fabricated using the solution cast technique. The first step in the preparation of
PVDF solution (Pmix) was dissolving a suitable amount in methyl-ethyl-ketone (MEK)
at 60 oC. A requisite amount of PMN-PT powder (volume fraction, φ = 0.079) was then
added to the Pmix solution to form nPMix, and this mixture is ultrasonically
agitated/magnetic stirred for several hours to break-up the agglomerates and disperse
PMN-PT uniformly in the Pmix. Then, nPMix is poured into a petri dish for the solution
to evaporate. The films so formed were annealed for 2–3 hours in the air, at 110 oC for
the present case. A full-face silver electrode was deposited on the film to form a
capacitor; then the film was cut into 10 mm×10 mm sized element for testing. The
electrode samples were poled at 60 oC with 10 kV/cm voltages for 2 hours. After the
poling process, the samples were short circuited and annealed at 50 oC for 2 hours. A
flow-chart of the fabrications processes is depicted in Figure 4.1.
88
4.2. Dielectric Measurement Technique
The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric permittivity (ε’ and ε’’) were
obtained by measuring terminal parallel capacitance Cp and loss tangent (tan δ = ε’’/ ε’) as
a function of frequency and temperature using the QuadTech 1920 LCR meter. The
amplitude of the peak-to-peak ac small-signal voltage (Vac) used for this purpose was 0.3
V. The block diagram of the set-up is shown in Figure 4.2, where constructed three-
terminal sample holder for the terminal capacitance measurement is shown in Figure 4.3
(Batra and Alim,… 2009).
Figure 4.1. A summary of composite film fabrication process (Batra et al., 2015).
89
Figure 4.2. The block diagram of experimental set-up.
Figure 4.3. A novel multifunctional sample holder for dielectric characterization

(Chilvery, 2013).
90
CHAPTER 5
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
5.1. Introduction
In Chapter 4 a theoretical model for free-clamped and clamped-clamped piezoelectric
cantilever beam, and Lumped Parameter Model (LPM) were mentioned and developed.
Different ways have been employed to extract the energy from piezoelectric materials
using lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT), lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and
the polymer material polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). PVDF and PZT were fabricated by
solution processed technique, where PMN-PT single crystal was grown in our laboratory
using the high temperature flux method. However, In order to characterize the proposed
design, the suggested energy harvesters were tested in our ‘Clean Energy Laboratory’, the
photograph of the laboratory measurement setup is shown in Figure 5.1.
A mini mechanical shaker was obtained from Bruel and Kjaer Instruments Inc.
(Model Type 4810). This shaker was driven at various voltages and frequencies using the
ELENCO function generator (Model GF8046) and a Bruel and Kjaer high-power
amplifier (Model NF4025) to produce a cyclic force of required magnitude and
frequency. The acceleration was measured by accelerometer sensors via Pico-Technology
96
picoscope (Model 4224). The output voltage from the EH is monitored by Keithley
multimeter (Model 2110) and picoscope interfaced to computer. The displacement of the
cantilever beam was measured by a MTI Instruments laser displacement meter (Model
Microtrack II). To avoid any interference from the noise in the surrounding environment,
all experiments were performed on an isolated optical bench (Alomari & Batra, 2015).
Figure 5.1. Experimental setup used for the frequency response measurements of a
unimorph cantilever arrays (photos by A. Alomari, 2016): (1) Shaker with an
accelerometer (Bruel&Kjaer 4810) and the cantilever arrays; (2) Laser vibrometer
(Microtrack II) MTI; (3) Fixed gain amplifier (Bruel&Kjaer 2718); (4) Control
function generator (GF8046 ELENCO); (5) Digital multimeter (Keithley 2110); (6)
Variable resistances box; (7) Picoscope; (8) Data acquisition system.
97
5.2. Calibration
The first step was to make sure the laser vibrometer and accelerometer were
calibrated correctly. This was achieved by connecting the accelerometer to the clamp end
side and pointing the laser onto the same point allowing both devices to measure base
motion. The conversion factors provided for the accelerometer and laser vibrometer were
1.022 V.m-1.s2 and 0.125 m.V-1 respectively. Note, at the time of testing, the fundamental
frequency of samples is varied according to sample mounted in the clamp.
5.3. Study of PVDF, PVDF/PZT, and PVDF/PZT with MWCNT’s Thick Films
In this section validation of the theoretical, simulated, voltage generated from various
samples is obtained. The first sample tested was a conventional energy harvester with
piezoelectric cantilever beam with tip mass. Dimensions and material properties
measured can be found in Tables 5.1 and 5.2. During testing, the frequency was swept
from 1 Hz to 100 Hz with base acceleration kept constant at 9.8 m.s-2.
Table 5.1. Dimensions and properties of piezoelectric cantilever beam and plate films
investigated.
Type of plate PVDF/PZT PMN-PT
Copper PVDF PVDF/PZT
film with MWCNT single crystal
Length (m) 0.104 0.018 0.027 0.023 0.008
Width (m) 0.010 0.008 0.008 0.008 0.005
Thickness (mm) 0.18 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.62
Young’s
117 3 70
Modulus (GPa)
Density (kg/m3) 8960 1780 8200
Table 5.2. The dimensions of piezoelectric PZT disc.

Type of material PZT disc
Radius (mm) 6.25
Thickness (mm) 2
Young’s modulus (GPa) / Density (kg/m )3
67/7500
98
base as shown schematically by Figure 3.10. When the structure is excited by a
mechanical impact, the dynamic behavior of the mass can be seen as a free damped
vibration. The displacement of tip mass attached at front of cantilever beam has been
investigated versus frequency by Laser, the results are shown in Figure 5.10.
AC to DC
Rechargeable
Battery
Switch
PMN-PT
Tip mass
Figure 5.9. A photograph of magnified the aluminum beam with the PMN-PT and AC-
DC electric circuit
The relative displacement causes the PMN-PT single crystal to be tensed or
compressed, which in turn induces a charge shift and accumulation due to the
piezoelectric effect. Electrodes collect the generated charge and electrical damping
results. The magnitude of the electric charge voltage is proportional to the stress induced
by the relative displacement. The displacement has been calculated by subtracting the
maximum and the minimum values of generated wave of base excitation shown through
the laser. As we seen in Figure 5.10, the displacement of the tip mas varies from 0.01 mm
at initial frequency value of 50 Hz and reaches the maximum value of about 0.13 mm at
108
first resonance frequency of 65 Hz. At the maximum value of displacement the output
voltage will be highest and the cantilever beam will be at highest deflection.
0.14
0.12
Displacement (mm)
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0.00
50 60 70 80
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 5.10. The displacement of tip mass versus frequency using the laser
The output voltage and power versus frequency are shown in Figure 5.11 and Figure
5.12, respectively. It is shown in Figure 5.11 and Figure 5.12 that the output voltage and
average power values of the PMN-PT single crystal at optimal resistance of RL=200 kΩ
are 0.113 V and 43 nW, respectively at a first resonance frequency of approximately 65
Hz. Experimental and simulation results are well matched for first resonance frequency
as shown in Figures using a model of a SDOF system (Eq. 3.80) for a PMN-PT single
crystal with tip mass attached at the front of aluminum cantilever beam.
109
0.16
Experiment
0.14
Theory
0.12
Output voltage (V)

0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0.00
50 60 70 80
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 5.11.Frequency dependence of output peak voltage (V) with proof mass of 2.5 g.
80
Experiment
Theory
Output Power (nW)
60
40
20
0
50 60 70 80
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 5.12.Frequency dependence of output peak power (P) with proof mass of 2.5 g.
110
(c)
(d)
Figure 5.25. First three vibration modes of clamped-clamped beam (a) MATLAB
(b, c, d) COMSOL.
126
5.6. Two Degree of Freedom Examination
A two degree of freedom (2DOF) piezoelectric vibration energy could widen the
harvesting frequency bandwidth by tuning the two mode resonant frequencies to be close
to each other. The study of the proposed 2DOF piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting
model which is shown in Figure 3.13 includes a PMN-PT single crystal vibrates in
longitudinal direction parallel to waveform generated by shaker and spring-mass system
attached at the top of PMN-PT single crystal. The dimensions, electrical, and mechanical
properties of 2DOF are given in Table 5.9.
Table 5.9. The dimensions, electrical, and mechanical properties of 2DOF system.
Parameter Type Values Unites
m1 Primary oscillator mass 0.02 Kg
m2 Secondary oscillator mass 0.005 Kg
k1 Primary oscillator stiffness 25 N/m
k2 Secondary oscillator stiffness 2.87 N/m
c1 Primary oscillator damping coefficient 0.06 N s/m
c2 Secondary oscillator damping coefficient 0.00272 N s/m
α1 piezo-insert force factor 6.1623×10 -5
N/V
Cp Capacitance of piezo-patch element 30×10-9 F
R Electrical resistance of piezo-patch element 500000 Ω
The experimentally measured and theoretically predicted dimensionless power
outputs are compared under an excitation base of 10 m/s2 and optimal load resistance for
both the conventional piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting (PVEH) and the proposed
2DOF PVEH as shown in Fig 5.26. It is shown in Figure 5.26 that the output power of
the SDOF at optimal resistance of RL=500 kΩ is 1.03 nW at a resonance frequency of
approximately 5.6 Hz. Also, it is shown in Figure 5.26 that the output power of the 2DOF
at optimal resistance of RL=500 kΩ are 54.37 nW at a first resonance frequency of
127
approximately 3.4 Hz, and 17.18 nW at a second resonance frequency of approximately
6.5 Hz. Experimental and simulation results are well matched for first resonance
frequency as shown in Figure 5.26 using a model of a SDOF system that mentioned in
Eq. (3.80), Also experimental and simulation results are well matched for first and second
resonance frequency as shown in Figure 5.26 using a model of a 2DOF system that
mentioned in Eq. (3.89) and Eq. (3.90).

10
Theory SDOF
Experiment SDOF
Dimensionless power output
-2 Theory 2DOF
10 Experiment 2DOF
-4
10
-6
10
-8
10 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Figure 5.26. Dimensionless optimal power output versus Ω for different single-degree-of-
freedom (SDOF) and two degree of freedom (2DOF).
128
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MODELLING, FABRICATION, and CHARACTERIZATION for IMPROVED

Thesis · July 2016

Liquid Crystals for Antenna Application at Microwave Frequency View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

IMPROVED PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTERS

ALMUATASIM ALI ALOMARI

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in the Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics

in the School of Graduate Studies

Alabama A&M University

ALMUATASIM ALI ALOMARI

PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTERS

Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Ashok K. Batra, PhD., Professor of Physics

researchers and academic community by demonstrate a versatile study on energy

ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric ceramics and composites in materials science

include conventional sensors, actuators, batteries replacement, and switch. Further,

Piezoelectricity is the accumulation of electrical charges as a result of applying

pyro-electricity is the accumulation of electrical charges from ambient environment from

temperature gauges or fluctuations.

In an incessant effort to increase the performance of smart materials devices researchers

technique, of polyvinyl-dine difluoride (PVDF) with different amount of Lead Zirconate

Titanate (PZT), Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PMN-PT), and Multi-walled

concentrations of PZT nanocomposite have higher dielectric constants than well-known

implemented based on a distributed parameter electromechanical model and the

the electromechanical behavior of the harvesters. The maximum power density at a

resonance frequency of 65 Hz and optimum resistance of 200 kΩ was 45 nW under a 0.5

g acceleration of vibration. By using pyroelectric effect along with the piezoelectric

was increased monotonically with temperature-difference (ΔT) and reaches up to 180%

of its original value under difference temperature of 1.7 oC.

KEY WORDS: PVDF, PMN-PT, piezoelectricity, pyro-electricity, MATLAB, COMSOL

ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS......................................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ xviii

LIST OF SYMBOLS ....................................................................................................... xxi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... xxvii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1

1.1. Surrounding Energy Harvesting .................................................................................. 5

Objectives of the Investigation ......................................................................................... 29

CHAPTER 7 FUTURE RESEARCH ............................................................................. 164

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 166

1.1. Selected battery-operated systems ............................................................................... 7

1.2. Characteristics of various energy sources available in the surrounding

1.4. Acceleration magnitude and resonance frequency of some ambient

5.1. Dimensions and properties of piezoelectric cantilever beam and

5.2. The dimensions of piezoelectric PZT disc. ................................................................ 98

5.4. Piezo/Pyro voltage, temperature difference, required time,

5.5. Dimensions, and electromechanical parameters of the model. ................................ 116

5.11. Properties of cantilever beams investigated ........................................................... 133

5.14. Properties of cantilever beams investigated. Magnifier end mass=5 g,

5.15. Resonance frequency, voltage and power output parameters of

5.16. Experimental, MATLAB, and COMSOL resonance frequency

5.17. A list of composite films fabricated with various volume

1.1. (a) A cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester tested under

1.2. The market size consumption of WSN’s.. ................................................................... 6

1.4. Electrostatic energy harvesting process (a) In-Plane Overlap

1.5. Electromagnetic energy harvesting process where a moving

1.7. Main types of Magnetostrictive energy harvesters (a) Force-driven

1.10. Thermodynamic interactions among thermal, mechanical

1.13. Schematic diagram for the energy storing circuit .................................................... 27

1.14. A lumped-parameter model of a pyroelectric element. ........................................... 27