A low frequency vibration energy harvester using magnetoelectric laminate composite

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In this paper, we present a vibration energy harvester using magnetoelectric laminate composite and a springless spherical permanent magnet as a proof mass. The harvester utilizes a freely movable spherical permanent magnet to transform external vibration into a time varying magnetic field applied to the magnetoelectric transducer. The laminate composite consists of a Ni–Mn–Ga-based MSMA (magnetic shape memory alloy) element and a PZT (lead zirconate titanate) plate. A proof-of-concept harvester has been fabricated and characterized at various input accelerations and frequencies. A maximum open circuit voltage of 1.18 V has been obtained in response to a 3g vibration at 17 Hz with the fabricated device. Moreover, a maximum output voltage of 10.24 V and output power of 4.1 μW have been achieved on a 950 Ω load, when the fabricated energy harvester was mounted on a smartphone and shaken by hand.