Factors influencing the performance of dielectric elastomer energy harvesters

Paul Brochu; Huafeng Li; Xiaofan Niu; Qibing Pei

doi:10.1117/12.847736

9 April 2010 Factors influencing the performance of dielectric elastomer energy harvesters

Paul Brochu, Huafeng Li, Xiaofan Niu, Qibing Pei

Proceedings Volume 7642, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010; 76422J (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847736
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We present a simplified dielectric elastomer energy harvesting model to explore the effects of various materials and operating parameters on both the amount of energy generated and the efficiency of dielectric elastomer generators and show that high energy output and efficiency can be obtained in various materials systems. The amount of energy generated increases with increasing values of bias voltage and applied stretch while the efficiency is shown to depend strongly on bias voltage but only weakly on stretch. We show that increasing the dielectric constant can have significant impacts on the amount of energy generated in certain systems and that stiffening the elastomer has the main effect of shifting the regions of high efficiency to lower strains and larger voltages. Using these results as a basis we explore one particular material system experimentally and compare with the results from our model. The impacts of electrode resistance and elastomer viscoelasticity are also explored.

Citation Download Citation

Paul Brochu, Huafeng Li, Xiaofan Niu, and Qibing Pei "Factors influencing the performance of dielectric elastomer energy harvesters", Proc. SPIE 7642, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010, 76422J (9 April 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847736

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