Mechanical energy harvesting

ChenX, Xu S, Yao N, Shi Y. 1.6 V nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting using PZT nanofibers. Nano Lett 2010 10 2133. 

Another matrix based on biosources, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), has also been used as a suitable candidate for mechanical energy harvesting. Here, the presence of PLA in the form of fibers and embedded BaTi03 ceramic particles exhibit a piezoelectric constant per weight that is 2 orders of magnitude larger than those of crystal BaTi03 films (Morvan et al., 2012). 

The last matrix type described in this section, also frequently used in nanocomposite preparation, is PDMS filled with various fillers such as (l x) Pb(Mg]/3Nb2/3) 03-xPbXi03 (PMN-PT) (Xu et al., 2013), NaNbOj (Jung et al., 2011), and BiFeOs (Murakami et al., 2013) nanoparticles. These nanocomposites have been successfully used as nanogenerators with the capabihty for mechanical energy harvesting. 

In this case, various matrices have been mentioned in relation to mechanical energy harvesting. Their further utilization depends on possible real applications. Therefore, various types have been investigated, and their promising behaviors were estimated. 

Fang, J., Niu, H.T., Wang, H.X., Wang, X.G., Lin, T., 2013. Enhanced mechanical energy harvesting using needleless electrospun poly(vinyUdene fluoride) nanolibre webs. Energy Environmental Science 6, 2196—2202. 

Valentini, L., Bon, S.B., Kenny, J.M., 2013. Poly(methyl methacrylate)/Graphene oxide layered films as generators for mechanical energy harvesting. ACS Applied Materials Interfaces 5, 3770-3775. 

So far, we have talked about the citric acid cycle only as an energy-harvesting mechanism. We have seen that dietary carbohydrates and amino acids enter the pathway at various stages and are oxidized to generate NADH and FADH2, which, by means of oxidative phosphorylation, are used to make ATP. 

Energy harvested from humans. This may include energy derived from glucose or ATP, or mechanical energy from user motion - walking - and other processes. 

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