An experimental study on thermal energy harvesting using Ca_0.15(Sr_0.5Ba_0.5)_0.85Nb₂O₅pyroelectric ceramics

Abstract

Pyroelectric materials can be used for energy harvesting in integrated Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) and low power electronics devices. This paper considers the thermal energy harvesting using Ca0.15(Sr0.5Ba0.5)0.85Nb2O5 (CSBN) pyroelectric ceramics. Hot/cold air was used to generate a continuous temporal temperature profile on the material surfaces. The maximum open circuit voltage was observed as 0.26V. The maximum stored energy was 1.9 μJ in 47 μF capacitor (without load resistance). The maximum power was found to be 2.07nW across 3 MΩ and 47 μF.