Dr. Shi's work focuses on miniature energy harvesting
technologies that could potentially power wireless electronics, portable
devices, stretchable electronics, and implantable biosensors. The concept
involves piezoelectric nanowire- and nanofiber-based generators that would
power such devices through a conversion of mechanical energy into electrical
energy. Dr. Shi uses a piezoelectric nanogenerator based on PZT nanofibers. The
PZT nanofibers, with a diameter and length of approximately 60 nm and 500 ìm,
are aligned on interdigitated electrodes of platinum fine wires and packaged
using a soft polymer on a silicon substrate. The measured output voltage and
power under periodic stress application to the soft polymer was 1.63 V and 0.03
MicroWatts, respectively.
This amazing breakthrough in piezoelectric nanofiber
research has incredible potential to enable new technology development across a
multitude of science and engineering industries and related research.
"One of the major limitations of current active
implantable biomedical devices is that they are battery powered. This means
that they either have to be recharged or replaced periodically. Dr. Shi's group
has demonstrated a technology that will allow implantable devices to recover
some of the mechanical energy in flowing blood or peristaltic fluid movement in
the GI tract to power smart implanable biomedical devices," says, Dr.
Arthur Ritter, Director of Biomedical Engineering at Stevens. "The fact
that his technology is based on nano-structures makes possible power supplies
for nano-robots that can exist in the blood stream for extended periods of time
and transmit diagnostic data, take samples for biopsy and/or send images wirelessly
to external data bases for analysis."
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