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Motion Powered 3D Printed Self-Healable Energy Storage for Wearable Electronics utilizing Plastic Waste

Project description

Plastic bottles to power up our smartphone batteries

The development of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can be an effective approach to transforming biomechanical energy to power up and increase the lifetime of the batteries used in our multimedia devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and tablets. However, TENGs generate low energy. To tackle this issue, the EU-funded MotionESt project aims to develop integrated devices that will connect a high-performance TENG with a supercapacitor (SC) able to store the transformed biomechanical energy. What is more, the energy density of the SC will be increased through porous Ti3C2 MXenes as electrode materials. The methodology will be based on the 3D printing of a Ti3C2/graphite-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) filament followed by pyrolysis. Moreover, plastic bottles will be used as a PET source, providing an innovative waste to wealth solution.

Objective

Portable and wearable devices including smartwatches, health monitoring, and multimedia devices are becoming increasingly popular in our daily lives. These devices are generally powered by batteries that have a limited lifetime. Recently, the development of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) has shown to be an effective approach to transforming biomechanical energy to power up these devices. However, TENGs generate low energy and AC signals which limit their use in continuously powering up electronics. The AC signals of TENGs must be converted and stored in energy storage. Among energy storage devices, supercapacitors (SCs) are found to be a promising device due to their high power density, moderate energy density, long cycle life, and safe use. Hence, this project aims to develop an integrated device (TENGSC), connecting a high-performance TENG with an SC, which can store the transformed biomechanical energy. However, the TENG and SC are susceptible to undergoing damage during biomechanical actions. This mechanical damage can be overcome by developing self-healable TENG and SC. The self-healing nature will help to restore their properties if any damage happens during the cyclic movements. Moreover, to harvest high power from the TENG, a 3D printing technique will be followed, which can easily introduce micropatterns on the film surface. The micro-patterns provide higher frictional effect which is the key factor in increasing the conversion efficiency of TENG. Besides, the energy density of the SC can be increased through using porous MXenes –Ti3C2 as electrode materials. This can be developed through the 3D printing of a Ti3C2/graphite–based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) filament followed by pyrolysis. The waste drinking water bottles can be used as PET source. Thus, through this work, biomechanically driven smart power source will be developed along with concept of waste to wealth transformation, which can be used in portable and wearable electronics.

Coordinator

VYSOKE UCENI TECHNICKE V BRNE
Net EU contribution
€ 144 980,64
Address
ANTONINSKA 548/1
601 90 Brno Stred
Czechia

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Region
Česko Jihovýchod Jihomoravský kraj
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 144 980,64