Revista de nanomateriales y nanotecnología molecular

Modeling and experimental verification of polyurethane/lead zirconate titanate composites for Sensing and Actuating Applications

R. Farhan

This letter proposes a new model that couples the piezoelectric and electrostrictive behavior to minimize the polarization power of composite polymer. The development of this model that is able to predict the energy harvesting capabilities of an electrostrictive composite. To improve the dielectric permittivity of electrostrictive polymer, the particles of PZT have been incorporated in order to increase the conversion efficiency of composite. Dielectric characterization tests showed an increase in dielectric permittivity by a factor of 4.5 compared to polymer pure. Experimental measurements of harvested power verify the theoretical model and demonstrate a good correlation between two data. An equivalent electrical scheme has been developed, which allows modeling the two behaviors. The harvested power density under low frequency at 2% of strain can reach 0.3μW/cm3 for 33% of PZT without polarization field. The energy harvester property of this material composite has great potential for many self-powered applications such as wireless sensor networks and Internet of things.