Energy Harvesting With Piezoelectric Unimorph Circular Diaphragms

This paper presents an experimental comparison of energy generating performance between piezoelectric harvesters for use in a pressure-loaded system. The energy harvesters in this study are simply-supported, partially covered piezoelectric unimorph circular diaphragms to capture and transfer biomechanical energy into electrical power for implantable medical devices. Experimental results indicate that both PMN-PT and PZT harvesters can generate useful power that might meet requirements for specific implants under the uniform cyclic pressure loading of 40mmHg blood pressure variation, but the PMN-PT harvester demonstrates over twice the power generating performance of the PZT harvester under the same pressure loading condition.