A barbell-shaped high-temperature piezoelectric vibration energy harvester based on BiScO3-PbTiO3 ceramic

In this paper, we report a barbell-shaped piezoelectric energy harvester (BSPEH) operating in a d33 mode and aiming for mechanical vibration energy harvesting in a high temperature (H-T) circumstance. BSPEH is composed of a ring-shaped multilayer piezo-stack, a tip mass, and an elastic shaft connecting them together. The piezo-stack is made of bismuth scandium lead titanate (BiScO3-PbTiO3) ceramic with a large piezoelectric coefficient of d33 = 450 pC/N and a high Curie temperature point Tc of around 450 °C. Experimental results show that the BSPEH works effectively and steadily in a wide temperature range from room temperature (R-T) till Tc/2. Furthermore, it is found that under a constant mechanical vibration excitation, the power output of the BSPEH at 200 °C is even two times higher than that at R-T. The proposed harvester shows a great potential for applications as a self-power source of wire-less sensor system in H-T circumstance.