Piezoelectric generators integrated into composites
 

2dof electromagnetic generator for railway applications
 

Flexible hybrid generators made of electroactive polymers

In a European and global context of ecological challenges, embedded systems need to find new sustainable and ecological sources of electrical power. The recovery of ambient mechanical energy is a promising alternative for ensuring the energy autonomy of nomadic devices. Our research aims to improve the recoverable energy density of inertial mechanical generators, to broaden their bandwidth by exploiting mechanical and/or electrical non-linearities, and above all to propose breakthrough technological concepts, in particular flexible hybrid generators made from electroactive polymers.

The advent of metamaterials, electroactive multi-functional materials, and plastronics are opening up new fields of application for mechanical energy recovery: integrated and distributed generators, functionalization of materials, coupling of wave wells and recuperators, etc.