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Simulation and Fabrication of Wagon-Wheel-Shaped Piezoelectric Transducer for Raindrop Energy Harvesting Application

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Abstract

Harvesting vibrational energy from impacting raindrops using piezoelectric material has been proven to be a promising approach for future outdoor applications, providing a good alternative resource that can be applied in outdoor rainy environments. We present herein an optimum novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric transducer specifically developed to harvest raindrop energy. The finite-element method was applied for simulation and optimization of the piezoelectric raindrop energy harvester (PREH) using COMSOL Multiphysics software, investigating the electrical potential, surface charge density, and total displacement for different transducer dimensions. According to the simulation results, the structure that generated the highest electrical potential and surface charge density was a wagon-wheel-shaped structure consisting of six spokes with wheel diameter of 30 mm, spoke width of 2 mm, center pad diameter of 6 mm, and thickness of 25 μm. This optimum wagon-wheel-shaped device was then fabricated by spin coating of PVDF, sputtering of aluminum, a poling process, and computer numerical control machining of a polytetrafluoroethylene stand. The fabricated PREH was characterized by x-ray diffraction analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Finally, the fabricated PREH was tested under actual rain conditions with an alternating current to direct current converter connected in parallel, revealing that a single cell could generate average peak voltage of 22.5 mV and produce electrical energy of 3.4 nJ from ten impacts in 20 s.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Research University Grant, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 1001/PELECT/814243.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

    Chin Hong Wong & Zuraini Dahari

  2. School of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Mohammad Hafizuddin Jumali

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

    Khairudin Mohamed

  4. Advanced Materials Research Cluster, Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Jeli Campus, 17600, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Julie Juliewatty Mohamed

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  1. Chin Hong Wong
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  2. Zuraini Dahari
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  3. Mohammad Hafizuddin Jumali
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  4. Khairudin Mohamed
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  5. Julie Juliewatty Mohamed
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Correspondence to Zuraini Dahari.

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Wong, C.H., Dahari, Z., Jumali, .H. et al. Simulation and Fabrication of Wagon-Wheel-Shaped Piezoelectric Transducer for Raindrop Energy Harvesting Application. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 1587–1597 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5201-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5201-2

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