Piezoelectric Water Drop Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials convert mechanical deformation directly into electrical charges, which can be harvested and used to drive micropower electronic devices. The low power consumption of such systems on the scale of microwatts leads to the possibility of using harvested vibrational energy due to its almost universal nature. Vibrational energy harvested using piezoelectric cantilevers provides sufficient output for small-scale power applications. This work reports on vibrational energy harvesting from free-falling droplets at the tip of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric-based cantilevers. The harvester incorporates a multimorph clamped–free cantilever made of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric thick films. During the impact, the droplet’s kinetic energy is transferred to the form of mechanical stress, forcing the piezoelectric structure to vibrate and thereby producing charges. Experimental results show an instantaneous drop-power of 2.15 mW cm⁻³ g⁻¹. The scenario of a medium intensity of falling water drops, i.e., 200 drops per second, yielded a power of 0.48 W cm⁻³ g⁻¹ per second.