High power density magnetoelectric energy harvester

Conventional methods for vibration energy harvesting are based on electromagnetic, electrostatic, piezoelectric and magnetostrictive mechanisms [1–4]. Among them, the magnetostrictive mechanism shows relative higher power density [4]. Here, we report energy harvesting mechanism based on magnetoelectric (ME) composites [5] made of high-permeability magnetostrictive FeBSiC alloy ribbons laminated with piezoelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) fibers. We will see that this multiferroic laminated composite has the potential to achieve higher power densities. Figure 1 illustrates the configuration of our ME energy harvester. In this design, two PZT fiber layer with multi symmetric polarization (push-pull) units are laminated with four magnetostrictive FeBSiC ones. It is suited for operating in both longitudinal (excited by a longitudinal magnetic field) and bending vibration modes (excited by mechanical vibrations).