Abstract
This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of multilayer PVDF resonant micro-vibrational energy harvesters designed to withstand environments in which high levels of acceleration are present. The multilayer cantilevers are fabricated by combining two folded PVDF stacks into a multilayered, bimorph structure. This acts to increase the overall capacitance of the harvester, a problem that plaques PVDF cantilevers as a result of its low dielectric constant. Moderate powers (7 μW) are produced from the cantilevers even at high acceleration levels (20 g) due to the limited piezoelectric coefficient of PVDF; however, as a result of the high tensile strength and low elastic modulus of PVDF, the cantilevers are able to survive extremely high accelerations (> 4000 g) without breakage – a critical problem for harvesters based on brittle piezoelectric materials and substrates.
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