Analyzing the Capabilities of Electric Field Energy Harvesting Using Natural Leaves

Oswaldo Menendez,Juan Villacres,Robert Guaman Rivera,Fernando Auat Cheein

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3129717

Oswaldo Menendez, Juan Villacres + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2021.3129717

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Abstract

Electric field energy harvesters (EFEHs) are reliable and sustainable power sources that may be used to power wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) in urban Internet of Things (IoT) networks, replacing traditional batteries. However, the large-scale deployments begin to pose significant environmental concerns regarding fabrication material degradation and recycling. In this context, this work analyses the performance of the natural green leaves as a replacement for standard electrodes in EFEH developments. To this end, different 10×3 cm2 EFEHs were assembled with raw leaves from the following species Magnolia Obovata, Ravenala Madagascariensis, Acanthus Mollis, and Agapanthus Africanus. Each harvester was evaluated at different drying steps, concluding that natural leaves may collect electrostatic charges related to the urban electric field, which might power ultra-low-energy devices. Experimental results reveal that Agapanthus Africanus electrodes perform best, with an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 111.88 V and a short-circuit current (ISC) of 229.09 nA. On the other hand, the VOC of Magnolia Obavata leaves achieved 76.76 V, and the ISC was 135.30 nA (the worst case). Although the performance for Ravenala Madagascariensis samples is less than Agapanthus Africanus ones, the size leaf is another critical parameter to design functional devices. Therefore, the experimental section also includes the conceptualization, design, and experimental testing of a functional EFEH prototype called Leaf-EFEH, which is assembled with Ravenala Madagascariensis leaves. Finally, numerous experiments have shown that the proposed Leaf-EFEH can power ultra-low-power devices.

Highlights

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a communication paradigm that connects and exchanges data between objects and systems in an intelligent environment using thousands of lowpower computer devices known as wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) [1]
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS This section studies the performance of Leaf-Electric field energy harvesters (EFEHs) by analyzing four species of endemic leaves (Magnolia Obovata, Ravenala Madagascariensis, Acanthus Mollis, and Agapanthus Africanus)
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION The Leaf-EFEH performance is determined following the methodology described in Sction II

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a communication paradigm that connects and exchanges data between objects and systems in an intelligent environment using thousands of lowpower computer devices known as wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) [1]. Each harvester comprises metal electrodes placed within an alternating electric field (EF) and driving circuits to supply appropriate voltage and current levels to low-power loads [3]. The pulsing operation mode connects the load for a brief time to measure the variables and transmit the data Another alternative to increase the output power of EFEHs is related to the development of high-efficient management circuits [5], [21], [25], [26]. Vegetables, and certain varieties of acidic fruits are composed of high-electrolyte solutions, bioelectrodes can be used as a conductive liquid to collect electrostatic charges [32] To this end, a comprehensive analysis of the natural leaf assembled triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was proposed in [30].

SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

LEAF-EFEH PROTOTYPE

CONCLUSION