Pyroelectrochemical Cell: Enabling Intelligent Self-Powered Systems via Direct Conversion of Thermal Energy to Stored Electrochemical Energy

热电化学电池：通过将热能直接转换为储存的电化学能，实现智能自供电系统

• 批准号: 1936636
• 负责人: Roseanne Warren
• 金额: $ 35万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1936636&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Pyroelectrochemical; Cell; Enabling; Intelligent; Self

Power availability remains one of the central limiting factors for the implementation of wireless sensors in many applications. For example, smart precision agriculture could increase crop yields while simultaneously reducing fresh water resources and maintaining soil health through the use of self-powered, wireless soil and moisture sensors. Wearable health sensors that are thin, flexible, and have 24/7 operation capability can provide early warnings for a wide variety of conditions such as cardiac arrhythmia and can provide real-time information for conditions such as asthma. However, such applications are often limited by the need to regularly re-charge or replace batteries. Thus, the ability to harvest enough energy directly from the environment to power such sensor systems, making them completely energy independent, could enable many applications with wide ranging societal benefits. This project will develop new technologies that can harvest power from ambient thermal energy, specifically small changes in temperature that occur daily all around us, and directly store that energy in a battery-like structure on the wireless sensor for later use. This technology could have wide-ranging applications enabling many smart environments with direct benefit to society.The objective of this research is to explore a new approach for the direct conversion of thermal energy to stored electrochemical energy using a novel device called a "pyroelectrochemical cell" (PEC). The PEC uses a pyroelectric material (porous polyvinylidene fluoride, PVDF) as the separator of an electrochemical cell. When the PEC is heated (or cooled), the polarization of the pyroelectric separator decreases (or increases), producing a potential gradient that induces ion migration to charge the cell. The inclusion of shape memory alloy (SMA) onto the surface of the pyroelectric separator further enhances PEC charging by integrating a stress-mediated ion migration that complements the pyroelectric ion migration. To improve the energy independence of electronic devices, there is great interest in powering devices from wasted environmental energy using energy harvesting technologies, however many self-powered devices that utilize energy harvesting still require an energy storage mechanism due to intermittent energy availability. The PEC addresses this challenge by integrating thermal energy harvesting and electrochemical energy storage in a single device, eliminating the need for auxiliary device components. The goal of this work is to fully explore and mathematically model this new technology such that it can be used to support self-powered sensing operation while minimizing device size, weight, and number of components. This goal will be achieved through a combination of experimental and simulation-based tasks that seek to understand the fundamental mechanisms of ion and electron transport within the cell, explore the efficiency limit of the thermal-to-electrochemical energy conversion (both with and without inclusion of SMA), and establish design principles for integrating PEC devices in self-powered systems. The new technology and design principles will be demonstrated through the application of an optimally designed PEC to self-powered soil moisture sensors and tire pressure monitoring sensors. The proposed research will be the first exploration of integrated pyroelectric energy harvesting and electrochemical energy storage within a single device. The research will address fundamental questions related to ion and electron transport within the PEC (questions that remain unexplored in previous studies of integrated piezoelectric energy harvesting and electrochemical energy storage) and lead to new understanding of the coupled thermo-mechanical-electrochemical interactions that occur to make the PEC work.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在许多应用中，功率可用性仍然是无线传感器实现的主要限制因素之一。例如，智能精准农业可以通过使用自供电的无线土壤和湿度传感器，在增加作物产量的同时减少淡水资源，保持土壤健康。可穿戴式健康传感器具有轻薄、灵活、24/7运行能力，可以为心律失常等多种疾病提供早期预警，也可以为哮喘等疾病提供实时信息。然而，这种应用往往受到需要定期充电或更换电池的限制。因此，能够直接从环境中获取足够的能量来为这些传感器系统供电，使它们完全独立于能源，可以实现具有广泛社会效益的许多应用。该项目将开发新技术，从环境热能中获取能量，特别是我们周围每天发生的微小温度变化，并直接将能量储存在无线传感器上的类似电池的结构中，以备以后使用。这项技术可以有广泛的应用，使许多智能环境能够直接造福社会。本研究的目的是探索一种利用一种称为“热电化学电池”（PEC）的新型装置将热能直接转化为存储的电化学能量的新方法。PEC使用热释电材料（多孔聚偏氟乙烯，PVDF）作为电化学电池的分离器。当PEC被加热（或冷却）时，热释电分离器的极化降低（或增加），产生电位梯度，诱导离子迁移给电池充电。将形状记忆合金（SMA）包裹在热释电分离器表面，通过整合应力介导的离子迁移来补充热释电离子迁移，进一步增强了PEC充电。为了提高电子设备的能源独立性，人们对利用能量收集技术从浪费的环境能源中为设备供电非常感兴趣，然而，由于能量可用性的间歇性，许多利用能量收集的自供电设备仍然需要能量存储机制。PEC通过在单个设备中集成热能收集和电化学能量存储来解决这一挑战，从而消除了对辅助设备组件的需求。这项工作的目标是充分探索和数学建模这项新技术，使其可用于支持自供电传感操作，同时最大限度地减少设备尺寸、重量和组件数量。这一目标将通过实验和基于模拟的任务相结合来实现，这些任务旨在了解电池内离子和电子传输的基本机制，探索热能到电化学能量转换的效率极限（包括和不包括SMA），并建立将PEC设备集成到自供电系统中的设计原则。新技术和设计原理将通过优化设计的PEC应用于自供电土壤湿度传感器和轮胎压力监测传感器来展示。提出的研究将是在单一设备内集成热释电能量收集和电化学能量存储的第一次探索。该研究将解决与PEC内离子和电子传输相关的基本问题（在以前的集成压电能量收集和电化学能量存储研究中尚未探索的问题），并导致对使PEC工作的耦合热-机械-电化学相互作用的新理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Communication—Design of Heated Cells for In Situ Absorption and Reflectance UV–Vis Spectroelectrochemistry

用于原位吸收和反射紫外可见光谱电化学的加热池的通信设计

• DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/ac5fec
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of The Electrochemical Society
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Khan, Fariha;Kowalchik, Tim;Nelson, Tanner;Atnip, Aaron;Johnson, Johnathan;Young, Jeremiah;Siri, Connor;Dallon, Adam;Warren, Roseanne
• 通讯作者: Warren, Roseanne

PYROELECTROCHEMICAL CELL--A DIRECT THERMAL TO ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY CONVERSION DEVICE

热电化学电池--一种直接热能到电化学能量转换装置

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Dissertation
• 作者: Khan, Fariha T.

Direct Thermal-to-Electrochemical Energy Conversion Via A Pyroelectrochemical Cell

通过热电化学电池将热能直接转换为电化学能

• DOI: 10.1109/powermems56853.2022.10007584
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: 2022 21st International Conference on Micro and Nanotechnology for Power Generation and Energy Conversion Applications (PowerMEMS
• 作者: Kowalchik, Tim;Khan, Fariha;Roundy, Shad;Warren, Roseanne
• 通讯作者: Warren, Roseanne

Stretching-induced phase transitions in barium titanate-poly(vinylidene fluoride) flexible composite piezoelectric films

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2020.10.036
• 发表时间: 2021-03-01
• 期刊: SCRIPTA MATERIALIA
• 影响因子: 6
• 作者: Khan, Fariha;Kowalchik, Tim;Warren, Roseanne
• 通讯作者: Warren, Roseanne

Effect of Pore Structure on the Piezoelectric Properties of Barium Titanate-Polyvinylidene Fluoride Composite Films

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.108276
• 发表时间: 2023-02
• 期刊: Nano Energy
• 影响因子: 17.6
• 作者: Tim Kowalchik;Fariha Khan;K. Lê;Paige Leland;S. Roundy;Roseanne Warren