Investigation of mechanical energy harvesting cycles using ferroelectric/ferroelastic switching

Piezoelectric energy harvesters have been widely developed in last decade due to their simplicity and practicality, but they suffer from low density. To increase the density, ferroelectric/ferroelastic switching could be an effective alternative harvesting approach. However, nonlinearity irreversibility of ferroelectric produces difficulty establishing a stable working cycle. In this work, novel, practical cycles using are established explored under quasi-static experimental conditions. A prototype device with simple ‘sandwich’ configuration is tested. The results show that cycle density can reach 11 mJ/cm3 tensile loading 3.2 compression, demonstrating great potential for applications.