Potassium sodium niobate lead-free piezoelectric nanocomposite generators based on carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer electrodes for energy-harvesting structures

Abstract

The ability to harvest energy from the aircraft body movement like vibration will rapidly advance the Internet of Things (IoT) for aerospace by supporting power to the IoT sensors. However, the design and development of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with a function such as piezoelectricity are difficult due to the conductivity of carbon. In this study, we prepare a lead-free piezoelectric nano-particle-dispersed epoxy resin with laminated CFRP prepregs in the upper and lower surfaces. A large electric field was applied by corona discharge which polarized the composite successfully. The output power of this piezo-resin/CFRP composite due to impact load was then measured. The resonant frequency and output power of the composite excited by bending vibration were also evaluated. In this study, approximately 0.8 μW/cm3 of power was generated by the impact tests and approximately 4 nW/cm3 of power was obtained by the bending vibration tests. The results suggest that the CFRP prepreg can be used as an electrode to develop CFRP composite materials with energy-harvesting performance. Such novel findings are promising for the fabrication of piezo-resin/CFRP composite generators, opening the door for the design and development of lightweight, robust, and efficient energy-harvesting structures.