Robotic Materials Article 2019

Mechanical‐to‐Electrical Energy Conversion with Variable Electric Double Layers

Thumb ticker sm keplinger christoph geringauflo  send
Robotic Materials, Physical Intelligence
Managing Director
Thumb xxl ente201801007 blkfxd 0001 m

The electromagnetic generator requires sophisticated power take-off systems to effectively capture low-frequency mechanical motion such as ocean waves and human gait. Conversely, electrostatic generators are variable capacitors, which harness charge separation processes that can directly capture low-frequency mechanical energy. The fundamentals of mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion with an electrostatic generator that exploits the high energy density of electric double layer (EDL) capacitors and varies capacitance by physical manipulation of the electrode–electrolyte interfacial area are elucidated. A model system is designed where all experimental parameters are easy to access in order to gain a detailed understanding of the energy flow in this conversion process. The system, termed a variable EDL generator, is based on titanium electrodes in NaCl aqueous electrolyte and operated as a charge pump. The net positive electrical energy generation of the system in the voltage–charge work-conjugate plane is analyzed, and it shows that the variable EDL generator can be scaled-up to spin an electric motor and increase the output power of the generator through the use of waste heat. The detailed analysis of this energy conversion principle suggests multiple avenues to enhance the performance of the variable EDL generator.

Author(s): Timothy G Morrissey and Shane K Mitchell and Alexandra T Jaros and Eric Ambos and Christoph Keplinger
Journal: Energy Technology
Volume: 7
Number (issue): 4
Pages: 1801007
Year: 2019
Month: March
Day: 28
Publisher: WILEY-VCH
Bibtex Type: Article (article)
DOI: 10.1002/ente.201801007
State: Published
URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ente.201801007
Electronic Archiving: grant_archive

BibTex

@article{Keplinger19-ET-Mechanical,
  title = {Mechanical‐to‐Electrical Energy Conversion with Variable Electric Double Layers},
  journal = {Energy Technology},
  abstract = {The electromagnetic generator requires sophisticated power take-off systems to effectively capture low-frequency mechanical motion such as ocean waves and human gait. Conversely, electrostatic generators are variable capacitors, which harness charge separation processes that can directly capture low-frequency mechanical energy. The fundamentals of mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion with an electrostatic generator that exploits the high energy density of electric double layer (EDL) capacitors and varies capacitance by physical manipulation of the electrode–electrolyte interfacial area are elucidated. A model system is designed where all experimental parameters are easy to access in order to gain a detailed understanding of the energy flow in this conversion process. The system, termed a variable EDL generator, is based on titanium electrodes in NaCl aqueous electrolyte and operated as a charge pump. The net positive electrical energy generation of the system in the voltage–charge work-conjugate plane is analyzed, and it shows that the variable EDL generator can be scaled-up to spin an electric motor and increase the output power of the generator through the use of waste heat. The detailed analysis of this energy conversion principle suggests multiple avenues to enhance the performance of the variable EDL generator.},
  volume = {7},
  number = {4},
  pages = {1801007},
  publisher = {WILEY-VCH},
  month = mar,
  year = {2019},
  slug = {keplinger19-et-mechanical},
  author = {Morrissey, Timothy G and Mitchell, Shane K and Jaros, Alexandra T and Ambos, Eric and Keplinger, Christoph},
  url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ente.201801007},
  month_numeric = {3}
}