Synergetic enhancement of the energy harvesting performance in flexible hybrid generator driven by human body using thermoelectric and piezoelectric combine effects

Seoha Kim, Dong Yeol Hyeon, Seong Su Ham, Jimin Youn, Ho Seong Lee, Seonghoon Yi, Kyung Tae Kim, Kwi Il Park

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Flexible thermoelectric-piezoelectric generator (f-TPEG) has emerged as the leading candidate to realize long-term biomedical monitoring-based ubiquitous healthcare services. We developed a f-TPEG composed of a piezoelectric (PE) poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) thin film and thermoelectric (TE) bismuth telluride-based alloy blocks. The surficial properties of TE and PE components of f-TPEG were thoroughly optimized to minimize the loss of output performance and enhance the mechanical stability. The f-TPEG harvested a maximum electric voltage of ~17 V and current signals of ~3.8 μA at a temperature difference of 3 K by periodic bendings: The harvested output power of the fabricated hybrid energy generator was well integrated without sacrificing each PE and TE-based energy generation. In addition, to confirm the biological energy harvesting efficiency of the generator, we demonstrated the f-TPEG taped onto human fingers, which converts an output voltage of about 8 V and a current pulse of about 6 μA. The results obtained herein suggest that the f-TPEG would play a variety of important roles in wearable device, which needs long-term biomedical monitoring and applications in smart clothing.

Original languageEnglish
Article number149784
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume558
DOIs
StatePublished - 30 Aug 2021

Keywords

  • Energy harvester
  • Flexible
  • Hybrid generator
  • Piezoelectric
  • Self-powered
  • Thermoelectric

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