Printed nanocomposite energy harvesters
I developed and integrated systems to build a 3D printer to allow for piezoelectric composites printing. This resulted in a publication in the American Chemical Society, with Henry Sodano and Mohammad Malakooti as co-authors.
Overview
Piezoelectric nanocomposites are promising for self-powered sensors and energy harvesters, but their performance is limited by random filler orientation. This work uses direct-write additive manufacturing to print BaTiO₃ nanowire / PLA nanocomposites with controlled nanowire alignment — along three different axes — via shear-induced alignment during the printing process.
Electromechanical characterization showed that alignment direction strongly affects energy harvesting performance. Optimally aligned printed samples achieved up to 8× higher power output than randomly oriented printed composites, and 273% more than conventionally cast composites with random NW orientation. This was the first demonstration of nanocomposite energy harvesters with spatially controlled filler orientation produced directly from a digital design.
My contribution focused on building and integrating the systems needed to operate the custom 3D printer. Published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2018), with Mohammad Malakooti and Henry Sodano as co-authors.