Periodic Reporting for period 4 - NANOGEN (Polymer-based piezoelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting)
Período documentado: 2019-10-01 hasta 2020-03-31
NANOGEN was aimed at bringing polymer-based piezoelectric nanogenerators to the forefront of mechanical energy harvesting technologies, as there is a huge demand for self-powered or autonomous devices in portable, wearable, embedded and implantable applications that require wireless sensing that this technology can directly address. The energy harvesting technology developed was low-cost and scalable, and the use of polymers made it green, eco-friendly and in some cases, biocompatible, with potential applications in diverse fields such as health, early-fault detection systems and resource management, to name a few. The first part of the project was designed to identify suitable piezoelectric polymers whose properties could be enhanced via nanostructuring methods, and implementation of advanced nano-charaterization tools in this context. The next part was aimed at incorporating these into scalable nanaogenerator devices that are capable of generating electricity from ubiquitous vibrations in the ambient environment, with a focus on long operating lifetime that requires minimal human intervention. TO this end, the project had a successful conclusion in developing novel polymer-based nanomaterials for mechanical energy harvesting, and the implementation of these in prototype energy harvesting devices. Through the course of the project, scalable nanofabrication techniques and new advanced nanoscale characterisation methods were discovered and developed. These techniques could be extended to related devices, such as thermal energy harvesters, self-powered piezotronic sensors, and functionalised microfluidic devices. The project concluded with several patents being filed, and significant engagement with industrial and clinical partners.
NANOGEN aimed to bring polymer-based piezoelectric nanogenerators to the forefront of mechanical energy harvesting technologies, as there is a huge demand for self-powered or autonomous devices in portable, wearable, embedded and implantable applications that require wireless sensing that this technology can directly address. It was shown that this energy harvesting technology could be made low-cost and scalable, and the use of polymers made it green, eco-friendly and biocompatible, with potential applications in diverse fields such as health, early-fault detection systems and resource management, to name a few. The first part of the project was designed to identify suitable piezoelectric polymers whose properties could be enhanced via nanostructuring methods, and implementation of advanced nano-charaterization tools in this context. The next part was aimed at incorporating these into scalable nanaogenerator devices that are capable of generating electricity from ubiquitous vibrations in the ambient environment, with a focus on long operating lifetime that requires minimal human intervention. Through the use of novel additive manufacturing routes, we have been able to translate the novel nanomaterials being developed in the project into working prototypes. By using a customised aerosol jet printing technique, we have fabricated devices for applications in energy, sensing and biomedicine. Furthermore, we were able to make these devices flexible and stretchable, with potential impact in the wearable industry, soft robotics and for biomedical applications. Specifically, we demonstrated a scalable template-assisted nanofabrication method for the synthesis of functional materials. The piezoelectric nanostructures developed were exploited for cell manipulation and stimulation, which was an exciting development. These materials and techniques also found application in triboelectric and thermoelectric energy harvesting, leading to several patents being filed .We also developed a new non-destructive piezo-response force microscopy method to directly study the electromechanical properties of soft piezoelectric nanostructures at the nanoscale for the first time. We also developed self-powered piezotronic sensors for highly-sensitive pressure measurements, as well as functionalised microfluidic bio-sensors using the novel additive manufacturing techniques developed in this project. These achievements have led to significant industrial and clinical collaboration, and the team has given talks at international conferences and research institutions to disseminate the results to the wider academic community. Several public dissemination activities were also carried out and were well received by he general public, including the Royal Society Summer Science Festival and the annual Cambridge Science Festival.
NANOGEN has delivered impressive results both in terms of materials discovery and development in the field of piezoelectric nanomaterials as well as implementation of novel microscopy techniques in measuring nanoscale properties of these materials. Additionally, we have also shown improved nanogenerator performance in terms of fatigue performance in polymer-ceramic nanocomposite energy harvesting devices. We have also looked into other types of energy harvesting, including triboelectric and thermoelectric energy harvesting, that involve some of the nanomaterials and/or fabrication techniques that we have already developed. We will continue to explore ways by which these can be incorporated into real-world applications including flexible and/or stretchable devices for applications such as wearable technology, structural as well as health monitoring under a range of different operating conditions. In addition, we have been looking into incorporating the novel functional nanomaterials that we have been developing into biomedical devices and applications, such as orthopaedic implants and microfluidic sensors.