Energy Harvesting for Soft-Matter Machines and Electronics

A new class of soft multifunctional materials could be used to convert mechanical deformation from vibrations and stretching into electrical energy.

Air Force Research Laboratory, Arlington, Virginia

Air Force (AF) materials capable of dramatic changes in shape and rigidity require soft-matter electronics that support functionality without interfering with the mechanics of the host structure. This program introduced a new class of soft, multifunctional materials that can be used to power these systems by converting elastic strain energy from large deformations into electricity. These materials are composed of soft elastomers embedded with a suspension of liquid metal (LM) droplets that control the electrical properties of the composite.

Depending on their composition and microstructure, these LM-embedded elastomers (LMEEs) can be tailored to exhibit exceptionally high electric conductivity, electric permittivity, and/or thermal conductivity. LMEEs with high permittivity can function as high-k dielectrics for storing and harvesting electrostatic energy. When integrated with an elastically deformable AF structure, they have the potential to generate electricity as the host structure stretches, twists, or bends under external loading. This external loading may arise from air drag, wind, ambient vibrations, collisions, etc. and represents mechanical work that would be otherwise dissipated through damping.