Evaporation-Driven Charge Redistribution and Current Generation for Energy Harvesting Applications

Abstract

The development of low power wireless sensor networks has generated interest in previously unsuitable energy harvesting methods as viable sources of power. We present a microfabricated synthetic leaf that can generate output voltages of 2 - 5 mu(V) for each motion of a gas-liquid interface due to the mechanical energy of evaporation-driven flow. The presented results provide a proof of concept for the use of evaporation-driven flow as a scalable mechanism of electrical energy conversion and energy harvesting applications.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA504180

Entities

People

  • Joseph Steinmeyer
  • Michel M Maharbiz
  • Ruba T. Borno

Organizations

  • University of Michigan

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Capacitance
  • Capacitors
  • Conversion
  • Dielectric Permittivity
  • Dielectrics
  • Electric Power
  • Electrical Properties
  • Energy
  • Energy Consumption
  • Energy Conversion
  • Energy Harvesting
  • Evaporation
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Energy
  • Networks
  • Power
  • Variable Capacitors

Readers

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Systems Analysis and Design