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SUMMARY:Functional nanomaterials for energy harvesting and sensing - Sohin
 i Kar-Narayan\, Materials Science\, Uni of Cambridge
DTSTART:20200227T113000Z
DTEND:20200227T123000Z
UID:TALK137242@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Catherine Pearson
DESCRIPTION:Harvesting energy from ambient mechanical sources in our envir
 onment (e.g. underground tunnel vibrations\, machinery\, walking\, etc.) h
 as generated tremendous interest as it offers a fundamental energy solutio
 n for 'small power' applications\, including but not limited to wireless s
 ensors. In this context\, piezoelectric and/or triboelectric materials off
 er the simplest means of directly converting mechanical vibrations\, from 
 sources such as moving parts of machines\, fluid flow and even body moveme
 nts\, into electrical power for microscale device applications. In particu
 lar\, nanoscale energy harvesters\, or nanogenerators\, are capable of con
 verting low-level ambient vibrations into electrical energy\, thus paving 
 the way for the realisation of the next generation of self-powered devices
 . Polymer-based nanogenerators are attractive as they are inherently flexi
 ble and robust making them less prone to mechanical failure which is a key
  requirement for vibrational energy harvesters. They are also lightweight\
 , easy and cheap to fabricate\, lead free and biocompatible\, but their en
 ergy harvesting performance is often found lacking in comparison to more c
 ommonly studied inorganic materials. My group thus develops scalable nanof
 abrication techniques for flexible and low-cost polymer-based nanogenerato
 rs with improved energy conversion efficiency\, by using facile template-a
 ssisted nanowire growth techniques. In this talk\, I will discuss our rece
 nt advances in incorporating polymer nanowires into scalable piezoelectric
  and triboelectric nanogenerators and sensors. I will also discuss how we 
 use novel additive manufacturing techniques to develop thermoelectric nano
 composites for thermal energy harvesting from ambient low-grade waste heat
  sources.\n
LOCATION:Open Plan Area\, BP Institute\, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ
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