Triboelectret-based aeroelastic flutter energy harvesters

This paper highlights some experimental results on several electrostatic membranes tested in a wind tunnel between 0 and 20m.s^-1 for airflow energy harvesting. The main idea is to use the aeroelastic behavior of thin flexible films to induce simultaneously the capacitance variations and the polarization required by the triboelectric/electrostatic conversion. This technology provides thin and flexible devices and avoids the issue of electrets discharge. Our prototypes (<16cm²) allowed a quick startup (from 3ms^-1), an electrical power-flux density from 0.1μW.cm^-2 to 60μW.cm^-2. In order to complete the energy harvesting chain, we have used a wireless sensor with temperature and acceleration measures coupled to a low power transmission (Bluetooth Low Energy) with reception on a smartphone.