Bridget Oei

Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Piezoelectric Generator: A Novel Approach to Harvesting Vibrations from Human Respiration to Power Biological Implant Devices

Bridget Oei

Hebron, CT
Grade: 11

Traditional batteries used in biological implants require the patient to undergo invasive surgery during the replacement process. One promising solution is to directly harvest energy from the biological system itself to realize self-powered biomedical devices. This research explores the development of a practical micro-scale device for harvesting energy from a regular human activity - respiration. The energy harvesting relies on the resonant oscillation of a piezoelectric generator whose prime component is a PVDF thin film of various thicknesses and configured in various shapes. Tests showed that such a device would produce ample power necessary to operate the most demanding biomedical devices.