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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - NANOGEN (Polymer-based piezoelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting)

Teaser

Summary

Work performed

NANOGEN aims to bring polymer-based piezoelectric nanogenerators to the forefront of mechanical energy harvesting technologies, as there is a huge demand for self-powered or autonomous devices in portable, wearable, embedded and implantable applications that require wireless sensing that this technology can directly address. This energy harvesting technology can be made low-cost and scalable, and the use of polymers makes it green, eco-friendly and biocompatible, with potential applications in diverse fields such as health, early-fault detection systems and resource management, to name a few. The first part of the project was designed to identify suitable piezoelectric polymers whose properties could be enhanced via nanostructuring methods, and implementation of advanced nano-charaterization tools in this context. The next part is aimed at incorporating these into scalable nanaogenerator devices that are capable of generating electricity from ubiquitous vibrations in the ambient environment, with a focus on long operating lifetime that requires minimal human intervention. Through the use of novel additive manufacturing routes, we have been able to translate the novel nanomaterials being developed in the project into working prototypes. By using a customised aerosol jet printing technique, we have fabricated devices for applications in energy, sensing and biomedicine. Furthermore, we are able to make these devices flexible and stretchable, with potential impact in the wearable industry, soft robotics and for biomedical applications.

Final results

NANOGEN has delivered impressive results both in terms of materials discovery and development in the field of piezoelectric nanomaterials as well as implementation of novel microscopy techniques in measuring nanoscale properties of these materials. Additionally, we have also shown improved nanogenerator performance in terms of fatigue performance in polymer-ceramic nanocomposite energy harvesting devices. We have also looked into other types of energy harvesting, including triboelectric and thermoelectric energy harvesting, that involve some of the nanomaterials and/or fabrication techniques that we have already developed. We will continue to explore ways by which these can be incorporated into real-world applications including flexible and/or stretchable devices for applications such as wearable technology, structural as well as health monitoring under a range of different operating conditions. In addition, we have been looking into incorporating the novel functional nanomaterials that we have been developing into biomedical devices and applications, such as orthopaedic implants and microfluidic sensors.