Archive for category Piezoelectric

Nanocomposite Materials Make Up New Cheap Piezoelectric Harvester

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on May 8, 2012

A new large-area piezoelectric nanogenerator technology has been developed by a team of scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The new technology uses piezoelectric ceramic nanoparticles and overcome limitations of previous piezoelectric materials. Led by Prof. Keon Jae Lee, the team set itself the goal to build a simple and low-cost [...]

Chinese Scientists Find Alternative to Lead-Containing Mainstream Piezoelectric Material

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on April 2, 2012

You probably learned in high school what the piezoelectric effect is: a phenomenon where an electromotive force is generated by applying mechanical stress to a material. So far, piezoelectric devices used a material called lead zirconate titanate (PZT). However, PZT is expensive and contains lead, which is bad for the environment. Progress does happen, though, [...]

New Discovery Makes Piezoelectric Materials 25% More Efficient

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on March 7, 2012

A new project at National Physical Laboratory in the UK aims to develop a much more efficient piezoelectric energy harvester. They found a serious glitch in current piezo devices that keeps them from giving their best at converting mechanical stress to electricity. Despite the fact that the powers outputted by piezoelectric devices are small (per [...]

Pavegen's Tiles Harvest Kinetic Energy Every Time Users Step on Them

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Piezoelectric on October 24, 2011

Kembell-Cook, the director of Pavegen Systems has come up with a new way to produce clean electricity from pedestrian traffic. The Pavegen tiles are expected to harvest energy from footsteps. They are perfect for cities where there are high foot-traffic areas. The operating mechanism is as follows: the tiles convert the kinetic energy from the [...]

New Piezoelectric Device Generates Energy From Human Respiration

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Piezoelectric on October 10, 2011

Graduate Student Jian Shi and Engineering Assistant Professor Xudong Wang at the University of Wisconsin-Madison came up with a new device that is able to convert small amounts of mechanical energy into electricity. In other words, the device could be used to capture energy from respiration. The secret of this innovation is the plastic microbelt [...]

Piezo-Photovoltaic Device Creates Electricity From Wind/Rain/Sun

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in New Inventions, Piezoelectric, Solar Power on June 15, 2011

A new device that harvests energy from raindrops, winds or sunlight has been invented at the Institute for Materials Research and Innovation at the University of Bolton, UK. Elias Siores led a team who created a special polymer with piezoelectric and photosensitive properties.

Yell at Your Phone to Charge It: New Piezoelectric Device Could Help You

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on May 10, 2011

Imagine that one day you could charge your mobile phone or other low-consumption devices just by placing them in noisy areas or by yelling at them. South-Korean scientists from the Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, are now studying a type of zinc oxide-based device that could do just that.

Highways in California Could Actually Produce Energy

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Piezoelectric on April 28, 2011

When cars or trains move on the surface of the earth, they produce vibrations. These vibrations can be captured and directed through underground piezoelectric materials to a smart grid or roadside batteries.

Skin-Like Piezoelectric Device Could Save Thousands of Dollars by Replacing Batteries

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on April 21, 2011

Researchers from the University of Notre Dame in the US have designed a PZT (lead zirconate titanate) piezoelectric device that resembles skin (they called it the EH skin) and that can harness energy from the mechanical work applied to it. The new device can be used in a variety of applications, ranging from wireless sensor units to patches that get energy from vibrations and pass it on to the grid. The sample they tested got as much as 3.7 mW.

New Bill Could Allow California to Harness Power Otherwise Lost as Cars Travel Over Pavement

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on February 11, 2011

We’ve been presenting over time how piezoelectric devices could harness energy from different sources, and I think we were right supporting this technology. The following is a Press Release sent to us by California Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who proposed a new bill that will implement piezoelectric technology already in use in Italy and Israel to harness energy from road vibrations.

Cornell Students Harnessing Wind Vibrations to Produce Free Electricity

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric, Wind Power on February 9, 2011

A group of undergraduate students at Cornell University has conceived a device that can harness wind-induced vibrations into electricity through the piezoelectric effect. The Vibro-Wind Research Group is led by Frank Moon, Joseph Ford Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Innowattech Applying Piezoelectric Technology To Railroad Tracks For Electricity Generation

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on December 8, 2010

After modifying Israeli highways to produce energy from piezoelectric pads installed beneath the asphalt, Innowattech, an Israel-based company, now applied their technology on railroads.

A Step Ahead For Zinc Oxide Piezoelectrics: Over 20 Times Power Improvement

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric on November 9, 2010

Piezoelectrics are a class of materials that, if applied a mechanical force, exert an electric current on the sides. You may already have knowledge about this, but researchers are studying how to take piezoelectric materials to the next step.

Scientists Create Photovoltaic-Piezoelectric Fiber To Power Gadgets With Light & Motion

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Piezoelectric, Solar Power on November 2, 2010

A group of researchers at the University of Bolton have created a new piezoelectric-photovoltaic fiber that has the possibility to be implemented into different gadgets to power them using light and motion.

Louisiana Professor Uses Piezoelectric Material and Carbon Nanotubes to Recover Lost Heat

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Piezoelectric, Thermoelectric on October 11, 2010

A Louisiana Tech University professor, dr. Long Que, has designed and prototyped a composite material that converts heat into electricity by using simple physical mechanisms found in piezoelectric materials and carbon nanotubes.

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