A novel soft encapsulated multi-directional and multi-modal piezoelectric vibration energy harvester

Advances in the design of various piezoelectric vibration-based energy harvesters (PVEHs), as a kind of power devices that can convert ambient energy to useable electrical energy, have become a hot topic in recent years due to their potential perspectives in wireless sensor networks, wearable electronics and low-power microelectronics. Unfortunately, conventional PVEHs modelled by beam- or plate-type planar structures are mainly restricted to harness kinetic energy in a single direction only. However, ambient vibration sources often work in multiple directions and broadband frequencies. To address this challenging problem, a mechanically-guided three-dimensional (3D) assembly structure is strategically designed to construct a soft cruciform-encapsulated PVEH in this work. Meanwhile, a reliable soft encapsulation technology is introduced to maintain the 3D configuration, which not only can avoid the collapse problem and also improve the dynamical performance. The entire system consists of a compressive buckling cruciform structure with a proof mass, PVDF thin film, and soft encapsulation. The dynamic characteristics of the system can be adjusted by changing the structural parameters, such as the pre-stressing force of the pre-stretched elastic substrate and the quality of the additional mass block. Finite element analysis and experimental studies are conducted to investigate the modal characteristics of system. A comparison of the vibration energy harvesting performance between the encapsulated and unencapsulated piezoelectric harvesters is presented. The results demonstrate that the encapsulated one can work well under multi-directional, multi-modal and low-frequency conditions. A maximum power output of 9.8 mW in the frequency range of 1–200 Hz can be achieved, which is almost 560 times more than that of the unencapsulated one. The proposed methodology also offers a new perspective for the fabrication design of soft-type PVEHs with higher working performance.