Piezoelectric ceramics for energy storage

What are piezoelectric materials?

Piezoelectric materials, which convert mechanical energy to electrical energy or vice versa, are at the heart of numerous electromechanical applications, such as piezoelectric actuators, ultrasonic medical imaging, structural health monitoring and mechanical energy harvesting, to name a few 1, 2, 3.

Which materials can be used as piezoelectric energy harvesters?

Ceramics, polymers, single crystals, composites, nanomaterials, and lead-free materials have been widely applied as piezoelectric energy harvesters, with PZT as the benchmark material. Some materials have been found to be better than PZT in certain specific aspects.

What is the value of energy storage density of piezoelectric devices?

When sufficient energy of vibrations exists in the ambient atmosphere, the value of energy storage density of piezoelectric devices is minimum three times more compared to the other energy harvesters (i.e. harvesters of electromagnetic/electrostatic energy) .

Why does polycrystalline piezoelectric ceramics show a difference in efficiency of energy conversion?

But still the crystalline nature (i.e. single crystal or polycrystalline) of PZT shows the difference in efficiency of energy conversion because it is found that polycrystalline piezoelectric ceramics show less piezoelectric properties than the single crystal piezoelectric materials , .

What is a piezoelectric energy harvesting device structure?

Energy harvesting device structures The cantilever beam with one or two piezoelectric material layers, termed as unimorph or bimorph (Fig. 4 a and b), respectively, is the most widely used device structure for piezoelectric energy generators (Fig. 4) since it can produce large mechanical strain during vibration.

What are the applications of piezoelectric energy harvesting?

The applications of piezoelectric energy harvesting at nano, micro, and mesoscale in diverse fields including transportation, structures, aerial applications, in water applications, smart systems, microfluidics, biomedicals, wearable and implantable electronics, and tissue regeneration are reviewed.