Energy harvesting from aperiodic low-frequency motion using reverse electrowetting.

Mechanical energy harvesting can provide a promising alternative to electrochemical batteries, which are currently widely utilized to power mobile electronics. In this work we present a theoretical analysis of a recently proposed method of mechanical energy harvesting, which combines a reverse electrowetting phenomenon with the fast self-oscillating process of bubble growth and collapse. We investigate the details of the bubble dynamics and analyze the dependence of the energy generation process on the system parameters. The results demonstrate that self-oscillation frequencies of several kHz are possible, which can lead to very high power generation densities in excess of 104 W m-2. The obtained results indicate the possibility of high-power energy harvesting from mechanical energy sources with very low frequencies, well below 1 Hz.

Nanonails: a simple geometrical approach to electrically tunable superlyophobic surfaces.

In this work, dynamically tunable, superlyophobic surfaces capable of undergoing a transition from profound superlyophobic behavior to almost complete wetting have been demonstrated for the first time. In the initial state, with no voltage applied, these surfaces exhibit contact angles as high as 150 degrees for a wide variety of liquids with surface tensions ranging from 21.8 mN/m (ethanol) to 72.0 mN/m (water). Upon application of an electrical voltage, a transition from the superlyophobic state to wetting is observed. We have examined experimentally and theoretically the nature of these transitions. The reported results provide novel methods of manipulating liquids on the microscale.