Piezoelectric nanogenerator efficiency gain drives commercialization advance
Keon Jae Lee, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST, and his colleagues proposed the solution to rise to the challenge posed by poor energy efficiency and a complex fabrication process that has plagued attempts to commercialize nanogenerators which are self-powered energy harvesters that convert kinetic energy created from vibrational and mechanical sources into electrical power, removing the need of external circuits or batteries for electronic devices.
Nanogenerators are self-powered, flexible devices that can provide permanent power sources to implantable biomedical devices, including cardiac pacemakers and deep brain stimulators.
Applying the inorganic-based laser lift-off (LLO) process, the research team produced a large-area PZT thin film nanogenerators on flexible substrates (2 cm x 2 cm).
"We were able to convert a high-output performance of ~250 V from the slight mechanical deformation of a single thin plastic substrate. Such output power is just enough to turn on 100 LED lights," Keon Jae Lee explained.
The self-powered nanogenerators can also work with finger and foot motions. For example, under the irregular and slight bending motions of a human finger, the measured current signals had a high electric power of ~8.7 µA. In addition, the piezoelectric nanogenerator has world-record power conversion efficiency, almost 40 times higher than previously reported similar research results, solving the drawbacks related to the fabrication complexity and low energy efficiency.
Lee further commented: "Building on this concept, it is highly expected that tiny mechanical motions, including human body movements of muscle contraction and relaxation, can be readily converted into electrical energy and, furthermore, acted as eternal power sources."
The research team is currently studying a method to build three-dimensional stacking of flexible piezoelectric thin films to enhance output power, as well as conducting a clinical experiment with a flexible nanogenerator.
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