Power Harvesting With PZT Ceramics

—Piezoelectric materials have been proposed as embedded power source, which are capable of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. However, power generated from a piezoelectric material usually comes with poor characteristics such as high voltage, low current and high impedance. In order to drive the embedded sensor circuit, piezoelectric power needs to be characterized and regulated. In this paper, we present an analysis on the power generation characteristics of the stiff lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics and its equivalent circuit. It is then verified by simulation and experimental results. Since a single PZT element may not meet the needs of real-world embedded applications, we present experiments and analysis using four identical PZTs. Finally, we outline an application where PZT elements are used for power generation in a Total Knee Replacement (TKR) implant.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ISCAS
• Authors: Hong Chen, Chen Jia, Chun Zhang, Zhihua Wang, Chunsheng Liu
• Keywords: Embedded Power Source, ISCAS 2007, Power Generation, Pzt Elements