A novel route to energy harvesting from wasted vibrations of siever shaker using piezoelectric technology

Globally, with the vast expansion of industrialization and globalization, the economic activity, energy consumption, and economic trading between nations have drastically grown even in the past four decades. As the world's existing conventional energy supplies, such as gas, oil, and coal, are rapidly deteriorating, the world will be facing a severe energy crisis in the upcoming years. Though there are several alternative renewable energy sources, unfortunately, they could not fulfill today's requirements in terms of efficiency, cost, and stability. Hence, energy harvesting has become a serious and hot topic among researchers. In this aspect, researchers found that energy derived through piezoelectric technology has piezoelectric technology has cemented a new dimension in the era of energy harvesting. The principle of converting mechanical stress into electrical potential and vice versa makes piezoelectric materials more robust, unique, and potential members for energy harvesting. Though there are several piezoelectric materials, Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), a polymer-based piezoelectric material, has attracted researchers due to its outstanding mechanical, thermal, and piezoelectrical properties. The β-phase in PVDF composites is mainly responsible for exhibiting electroactive properties, which help in energy harvesting performance. Hence, this research exclusively focuses on vibration-based energy harvesting through piezoelectric technology of PVDF nanocomposite films. Flexible Neat PVDF and PVDF nanocomposite films incorporated with various proportions of zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) were fabricated using a solution-casting technique. Further, the fabricated film samples are installed in a mechanical sieve shaker machine where the PVDF samples utilize the generated vibrations and are effectively converted into electrical potential. Piezoelectric technology is known as the finest source of energy harvesting. PVDF is a well-known polymer-based piezoelectric material. PVDF nanocomposite films are fabricated using the solution casting technique. The addition of ZnO nanofillers enhanced the piezoelectric characteristics of the film. The Wasted vibrations from the sieve shaker were successfully converted into beneficial electrical potential.