Research Scientists at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have come up with a new technique for generating electrical energy. The method can be used in harvesting energy from mechanical vibrations of the environment and converting it into electricity.
The new technology can be beneficial where energy harvesters are required, as in the case of wireless, self-powered sensors and medical implants, where they could ultimately replace batteries. Energy harvesters have the ability to open up new opportunities in many application areas including wearable electronics.
The technology has successfully generated energy by using the charging phenomenon that occurs naturally between two bodies with different work functions. A work function is the amount of energy needed to remove an electron from a solid and it determines, for example, the the well-known photoelectric effect.
When two conducting bodies with different work functions are connected to each other electrically, they accumulate opposite charges. Moving these bodies with respect to each other generates energy because of the attractive electrostatic force between the opposite charges.
In VTT’s experiment the energy generated by this motion was converted into useful electrical power by connecting the bodies to an external circuit. This new energy conversion technique also works with semiconductors.
Electricity is usually provided by batteries in many sensor applications and medical implants such as pacemakers. Research into small energy harvesters that turn mechanical vibration into electricity has focused on piezoelectric and electrostatic devices. In comparison to these devices, VTT’s technique doesn’t require an integrated battery, electrets or piezo materials.
VTT estimates that the new electricity generation technology could be introduced on an industrial scale within three to six years. Energy harvesters and new sensing solutions are among the projected megatrends of the near future. They can replace batteries and other energy sources in applications where maintenance is difficult or impossible.
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