Integrated flexible self-charging power supply for energy harvesting in agricultural environment and preparation method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11894785-B2
Application number	US-202017624263-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2020
Priority date	Sep 18, 2019
Publication date	Feb 6, 2024
Grant date	Feb 6, 2024

Abstract

An integrated flexible self-charging power supply for energy harvesting in an agricultural environment and a preparation method thereof are provided, wherein the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment includes polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and a graphene electrode entirely encapsulated in the PDMS, where the graphene electrode includes a power generation portion and an interdigital portion; the power generation portion and the interdigital portion are integrally encapsulated in the PDMS; the interdigital portion is covered with a solid electrolyte; two ends of the interdigital portion of the graphene electrode are led out by wires to serve as two output ends of the power supply.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated flexible self-charging power supply for energy harvesting in an agricultural environment, comprising polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and a graphene electrode entirely encapsulated in the PDMS, wherein
the graphene electrode comprises a power generation portion and an interdigital portion;
the power generation portion and the interdigital portion are integrally encapsulated in the PDMS;
the interdigital portion is covered with a solid electrolyte;
two ends of the interdigital portion of the graphene electrode are led out by wires to serve as two output ends of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply.

2. The integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 1 , wherein the power generation portion and the interdigital portion are respectively generated by laser induction on a surface of a polyimide (PI) film in one step.

3. A preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 1 , comprising the following steps:
(1) generating a patterned graphene electrode by laser induction on a surface of a polyimide (PI) film, wherein the patterned graphene electrode comprises a first power generation portion and a second interdigital portion;
(2) pouring a PDMS mixed solution on the surface of the PI film on a side where the patterned graphene electrode is located, wherein the solution at least covers the patterned graphene electrode; then removing air bubbles by vacuum treatment, and curing PDMS by heating to obtain cured PDMS;
(3) removing the PI film from a surface of the cured PDMS to separate the patterned graphene electrode from the surface of the PI film, so as to obtain a flexible laser-induced graphene electrode;
(4) electrically connecting a second power generation portion and a second interdigital portion of the flexible laser-induced graphene electrode by a bridge rectifier and a copper wire;
(5) covering the second interdigital portion with the solid electrolyte to combine the second interdigital portion with the solid electrolyte to form a supercapacitor; and
(6) leading out two ends of the second interdigital portion and connecting the wires, pouring the PDMS mixed solution on a surface of the flexible laser-induced graphene electrode on a side where the graphene electrode is located, removing the air bubbles by the vacuum treatment, and curing to finally obtain the integrated flexible self-charging power supply.

4. The preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 3 , wherein the power generation portion is a complete square metal sheet structure, and the interdigital portion is a typical interdigital electrode structure.

5. The preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 3 , wherein in step (1), the patterned graphene electrode is generated by the laser induction in the following manner: cutting the surface of the PI film to obtain a cut PI film of a required size, fixing the cut PI film in a prefabricated mold, and carrying out laser induction treatment on a surface of the cut PI film by using a laser with a vertical distance of 7.5 cm, a scanning speed of 10 mm/s and an output power of 3.85 W, to generate the patterned graphene electrode.

6. The preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 3 , wherein step (2) comprises: mixing the PDMS and a curing agent at a mass ratio of 10:1 to prepare the PDMS mixed solution; placing a final product obtained in step (1) in a vacuum oven for 30 min to remove air to allow the PDMS mixed solution to completely penetrate a porous structure of the patterned graphene electrode; placing a mold in an oven at 80° C. for 2 h to cure the PDMS into a PDMS film.

7. The preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 3 , wherein in step (3), the PI film is removed from the cured PDMS to obtain the flexible laser-induced graphene electrode, wherein the graphene electrode is transferred on a PDMS film formed by the cured PDMS.

8. The preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 4 , wherein in step (5), the solid electrolyte is prepared from 1 g of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), 0.8 g of phosphoric acid and 10 mL of deionized water.

9. A method of using the integrated flexible self-charging power supply according to claim 1 , wherein the integrated flexible self-charging power supply is used for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein
the integrated flexible self-charging power supply is used as a flexible device to be attached to a surface of a crop, and is configured to harvest swing energy from a crop leave and raindrop energy through a triboelectric effect and an electrostatic induction effect, and convert the swing energy and the raindrop energy into electrical energy for storage.

11. The preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply for the energy harvesting in the agricultural environment according to claim 3 , wherein the power generation portion and the interdigital portion are respectively generated by the laser induction on a surface of a polyimide (PI) film in one step.

12. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the power generation portion and the interdigital portion are respectively generated by laser induction on a surface of a polyimide (PI) film in one step.

13. The method according to claim 9 , wherein a preparation method of the integrated flexible self-charging power supply comprises the following steps;
(1) generating a patterned graphene electrode by laser induction on a surface of a polyimide (PI) film, wherein the patterned graphene electrode comprises a first power generation portion and a second interdigital portion;
(2) pouring a PDMS mixed solution on the surface of the PI film on a side where the patterned graphene electrode is located, wherein the solution at least covers the patterned graphene electrode; then removing air bubbles by vacuum treatment, and curing PDMS by heating to obtain cured PDMS;
(3) removing the PI film from a surface of the cured PDMS to separate the patterned graphene electrode from the surface of the PI film, so as to obtain a flexible laser-induced graphene electrode;
(4) electrically connecting a second power generation portion and a second interdigital portion of the flexible laser-induced graphene electrode by a bridge rectifier and a copper wire;
(5) covering the second interdigital portion with the solid electrolyte to combine the second interdigital portion with the solid electrolyte to form a supercapacitor; and
(6) leading out two ends of the second interdigital portion and connecting the wires, pouring the PDMS mixed solution on a surface of the flexible laser-induced graphene electrode on a-side where the graphene electrode is located, removing the air bubbles by the vacuum treatment, and curing to finally obtain the integrated flexible self-charging power supply.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the power generation portion is a complete square metal sheet structure, and the interdigital portion is a typical interdig

Assignees

• Univ Zhejiang

Inventors

• Ping Jianfeng
• Li Xunjia
• Ying Yibin

Classifications

• H02J7/70

  characterised by the mechanical construction · CPC title

• H02N1/04 Primary

  Friction generators · CPC title

• H01G11/32

  Carbon-based · CPC title

• H01G11/56

  Solid electrolytes, e.g. gels; Additives therein · CPC title

• H01G11/86

  specially adapted for electrodes (carbonisation or activation of carbon for the manufacture of electrodes H01G11/34) · CPC title