Piezoelectric energy harvesting from the atomic oxygen hypervelocity impact in low Earth orbit

Abstract

Atomic oxygen (AO) in low Earth orbit (LEO) can cause severe progressive damage to spacecraft orbiting at hypervelocities over 7 km/s; therefore, all space-graded materials need to be qualified for protection against these high energy impacts. Instead of treating AO as a threat, can we use these atomic impacts, which have enough energy to cause material failure, to generate power? Despite its potential, no attempt has yet been made to utilize the hypervelocity impact energy of AO. Thus, we propose a piezoelectric energy harvesting method through the hypervelocity AO impact in LEO. In this study, energy harvesting with various configurations was experimentally demonstrated using a conventional lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic plate under oxygen plasma exposure to simulate AO impact. The average output power density was 4 W/m2 under 1.43 × 1016 atoms/cm2s effective AO flux conditions. Our study provides a new method for generating energy in a space environment with limited energy sources.