Abstract
This talk will give an introduction to a technique for harvesting mechanical energy by exploiting the triboelectric effect – that is the generation of electrical charge at the surface of some materials due to frictional contact with another material. The talk will introduce the basic operating principles and different modes of operation, and the triboelectric series that characterises materials in terms of their triboelectric properties. Example devices from the literature will be used to illustrate the electrical power output and measures used to convert what is a high voltage, low current signal into a useful power supply. The work on textile based triboelectric energy harvesters developed at Southampton will be used to illustrate some of the challenges regarding the practical implementation in wearable applications. Finally, the future prospects for this type of harvester will be explored.
Brief Bio
Professor Steve P Beeby received a Ph.D. in MEMS resonant sensors from the University of Southampton, U.K., in 1998. His current research interests focus on e-textiles and the application of energy harvesting in wearable applications. He is currently the Director of the Centre for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles and leads the U.K.’s E-Textiles Network and has received over £22 million research funding. Prof. Beeby is the recipient of a prestigious RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies and has previously received two EPSRC Research Fellowships to investigate the combination of screen-printed active materials with micromachined structures and textiles for energy harvesting. He is a cofounder of Perpetuum Ltd., a University spin-out based upon vibration energy harvesting formed in 2004 and has co-authored/edited five books has given 29 invited talks and has over 375 publications and 9 patents with over 18,500 citations and an h-Index of 56.
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