Near-field thermodynamics: Useful work, efficiency, and energy harvesting

Useful Work and Gibbs Energy

Near-field dust exposure from cotton field tilling and harvesting.

The frequency and intensities of dust exposures in and near farm fields, which potentially contribute to high intensity human exposure events, are undocumented due to the transient nature of local dust plumes and the difficulties of making accurate concentration measurements. The objective of this study is to measure near-field spatial concentrations of the dust plumes emitted during tilling an...

Harvesting Vibrational Energy Using Material Work Functions

Vibration energy harvesters scavenge energy from mechanical vibrations to energise low power electronic devices. In this work, we report on vibration energy harvesting scheme based on the charging phenomenon occurring naturally between two bodies with different work functions. Such work function energy harvester (WFEH) is similar to electrostatic energy harvester with the fundamental distinctio...

Stochastic thermodynamics and sustainable efficiency in work production.

We propose a novel definition of efficiency, valid for motors in a nonequilibrium stationary state exchanging heat and possibly other resources with an arbitrary number of reservoirs. This definition, based on a rational estimation of all irreversible effects associated with power production, is adapted to the concerns of sustainable development. Under conditions of maximum power production the...

Near-field electrospinning enhances the energy harvesting of hollow PVDF piezoelectric fibers

In this study we used the near-field electrospinning (NFES) process with the metallic coaxial needle injector to fabricate piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fiber tubes. Using these tubes, we designed an energy capture device featuring parallel electrodes to harvest low-frequency energy. We examined the effects of several parameters on the properties of the piezoelectric PVD...