Rashi Tiwari
University of Nevada, Reno
March 17, 2009 | 12:00 to 01:00 | 521 Cory Hall, Hogan Room
Host: John Huggins
Power sources for integrated electronics have been a growing concern with the ever-increasing use of portable devices. Recent advancements in "smart" materials have led scientists to explore the application of these materials for energy harvesting applications. An especially promising material is the Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC). In 1993, Oguro et al. found that a perfluorinated sulfonate membrane sandwiched between platinum electrodes responds to electrical stimuli (~1-2 volt) by bending. Inversely, an electric potential is generated across the composite due to the differential displacement of the effective centers of the anions and cations within each cluster. This makes IPMC effective for large motion sensors, dampers, chemical sensor applications and energy harvesting. IPMC-based energy harvesters consist of a vibration source to impose stress on the polymer. IPMC then acts as a generator, and in turn is connected to the electric circuit that functions as energy receiver. The focus of this research is to study and improve energy harvesting using IPMC.
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