Electret Based Vibration Energy Harvester with Self-Healable Surface Charge

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an electrostatic vibration energy harvester (e-VEH) with self-healable surface charge of electret. The device is made of a sandwich structure with out-of-the-plane gap closing scheme. Nine tungsten corona tips with tip diameter of 5\ \mu \mathrm{m} are assembled into the device. With a corona charging setup self-powered by the part of the harvested energy of the e-VEH, the electret can be charged/recharged, which would solve the charge decay problem for application in harsh environment. The surface potential of the electret is tested after self-healing, and an improved power output of e-VEH has been achieved with good reliability.