Miniaturized enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) that convert biological energy into electrical energy by using enzymemodified electrodes are considered as one of the promising candidates to power the implantable medical devices and portable electronics. However, their low power density and insufficient cell lifetime are two big obstacles to need to be tackled before EBFCs become viable for practical application. In this study, the theoretical simulation of this EBFC system is conducted using finite element analysis from COMSOL 4.3a in terms of cell performance, efficiency and optimum cell configurations. We optimized the electrodes design in steady state based on a three dimensional EBFC chip and studied the effect of orientation of the microelectrode arrays in blood artery. In the experimental part, we demonstrated an EBFC system that used 3D micropillar arrays integrated with graphene/enzyme composites. The fabrication process of this system combined top-down carbon microelectromechanical system (CMEMS) technology to fabricate the 3D micropillar arrays platform and bottom-up electrophoretic deposition (EPD) to deposit graphene/enzyme composite onto the 3D micropillar arrays. The amperometric response of the graphene based bioelectrodes exhibited excellent electrochemical performance and the 3D graphene/enzyme based EBFC generated a maximum power density of 136.3 μWcm^-2 at 0.59 V, which is about 7 times of the maximum power density of the bare 3D carbon based EBFC.

Renewable alternatives to fossil hydrocarbons for energy generation are of general interest for a variety of political, economic, environmental, and practical reasons. In particular, energy from biomass has many advantages, including safety, sustainability, and the ability to be scavenged from native ecosystems or from waste streams. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can take advantage of microorganism metabolism to efficiently use sugar and other biomolecules as fuel, but are limited by low power densities. In contrast, direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) take advantage of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) to generate electricity from alcohols at much higher power densities. Here, we investigate a novel bio-hybrid fuel cell design prepared using commercial off-the-shelf DAFCs. In the bio-hybrid fuel cells, biomass such as sugar is fermented by yeast to ethanol, which can be used to fuel a DAFC. A separation membrane between the fermentation and the DAFC is used to purify the fermentate while avoiding any parasitic power losses. However, shifting the DAFCs from pure alcohol-water solutions to filtered fermented media introduces complications related to how the starting materials, fermentation byproducts, and DAFC waste products affect both the fermentation and the long-term DAFC performance. This study examines the impact of separation membrane pore size, fermentation/fuel cell byproducts, alcohol and salt concentrations, and load resistance on fuel cell performance. Under optimized conditions, the performance obtained is comparable to that of a similar DAFC run with a pure alcohol-water mixture. Additionally, the modified DAFC can provide useable amounts of power for weeks.

Combined photovoltaic module-microbial fuel cell construction shows prospect of advanced autonomous functioning effective energy-production system with the possibility of round-the-clock power generation. Application of Desulfuromonas sp. as anode biocatalyst in photovoltaic (PV) - microbial fuel cell (MFC) could support highly effective eco-friendly energy derivation with simultaneous reduction of organic and inorganic wastes in water environment. D. acetoxidans is exoelectrogenic bacterium that supports S⁰-reduction with H₂S formation and S⁰-oxidation while an electrode serves as the electron acceptor. Simultaneous sulfur redox processes enhance electron transfer to the electrode surface that may increase the effectiveness of microbial fuel cell performance. It was shown that D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 possesses selective resistance to 0.5-2.5 mM of copper, iron, nickel, manganese and lead ions. Metal-resistant strains of this bacterium may help overcome H2S toxicity, which is produced because of dissimilative S0-reduction, since divalent cations will interact with sulfide ions, forming insoluble precipitates. Thus D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 may be applied for remediation of toxic metal ions from water environments because of metal fixation in form of insoluble complexes of metal sulfides. D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 is presumed to have the capability to convert organic compounds, such as malate, pyruvate, succinate and fumarate via reductive stage of tricarboxylic acid cycle. Thus application of effluents as anolyte in MFC, based on D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384, may cause decrease of its organic content with formation of simple benign constituents, such as CO₂ and H₂O. Hence the advanced system for eco-friendly energy generation with simultaneous water pollution control is proposed.

The search for improved thermoelectric materials is driven in part by the desire to convert otherwise wasted lowtemperature heat into useful electricity. In this work, we demonstrate a new path towards materials having higher overall zT, and consequently improved capacity to obtain more electrical power from a given content of heat. We produced alloys of (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃ using a special gas atomization process that is capable of producing source powder material having nanometer-scale grain size. When impulse-compacted by shockwave consolidation, the obtained dense solid will retain its nanostructure because insufficient time and temperature are available for the kinetics of any appreciable grain growth to proceed. However, if there is initial non-uniformity in the properties of the source powder, or if there is stress non-symmetries during shockwave consolidation, then the obtained consolidated material may have locally inhomogeneous properties distributed throughout the material. Thermoelectric property measurements from selected regions within the consolidated sample indicate a wide distribution of properties. For example, the thermal conductivity at room temperature ranged from as low as 1.30 Watts/m-K in one region to higher than 3.00 Watts/m-K in a neighboring region. The electrical resistivity showed similar variation from as low as 0.5 mΩ-cm to as high as 1.5 mΩ-cm. Individually, those regions exhibited thermoelectric material figure-of-merit, zT values ranging between 0.3 and 0.4. However, when combined into a dense nanocomposite, the overall ensemble zT approaches 0.7 which is nearly a factor of 2 higher.

The complex perovskite ACu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (A = Ca, Bi_2/3, Y_2/3) which possess high dielectric constant could be promising candidates to replace relaxors as dielectrics in DRAM, MLCCs and other memory devices. Their smaller capacitive components lead to miniaturization of electronic devices with efficient performance. Yttrium Copper Titanate (Y_2/3Cu₃Ti₄O₁₂) nano-ceramic is structurally analogous to CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂. XRD of Y_2/3Cu₃Ti₄O₁₂ shows the presence of all normal peaks of CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂. SEM micrograph exhibits the presence of bimodal grains of size ranging from 1-2 μm. Bright field TEM image clearly displays nano-crystalline particle which is supported by presence of a few clear rings in the corresponding selected area electron diffraction pattern. It exhibits high dielectric constant (ε′= 8434) at room temperature and 100 Hz frequency with characteristic relaxation peaks.

We have used low temperature organics to achieve orientation of the grains of Ca_2/3Cu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) compound to increase the resistivity. During the past fifteen years CCTO has been studied extensively for its performance as a dielectric capacitor. We have synthesized and grown large grains of pure Ca_2/3Cu₃Ti₄O₁₂ and doped compound, and studied the dielectric constant and resistivity. The grains were aligned by using a naphthalene-camphor eutectic. CCTO was mixed in the organic melt and oriented by the directional solidification method. This material has different characteristics than pure processed CCTO material. The effect of solidification conditions and its effect on the morphology and the dielectric constant, resistivity and loss tan delta of pure and doped CCTO are described in this article.

Hydrogen, of which the application is limited due to the difficulties in finding the ideal storage material, has been considered alternative for petroleum as the main energy source. With its large surface area and other extraordinary physical properties, graphene has been the focus of many researchers as the promising candidate for hydrogen storage and transportation. In this work, the hydrogen storage characteristics of graphene have been investigated by MD simulations. We found that, under the temperature of 70 K and the pressure of 1 MPa, the hydrogen uptake percentage can be as high as 54%. And the majority of the hydrogen atoms are absorbed during the initial 100 – 200 ps of the simulation. Moreover, the hydrogen storage properties of graphene with different environment temperatures have been studied. We found that with increasing temperature, the hydrogen uptake percentage towards the end of the simulation decreases. Furthermore, the number of layers of the graphene sheet also exerts influence of the hydrogen absorption capability of the sample. We conclude that the more graphene sheets are being used, the less hydrogen atoms are being absorbed by the sample. Our work provides insight into optimizing the environmental temperature and thickness of the graphene sheet when designing novel energy storage devices, especially hydrogen storage devices.

Conventional electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) are well suited as power sources for devices that require large bursts of energy in short time periods. However, when compared to their battery counterparts, EDLCs suffer from low energy densities. The low energy density of EDLCs hinders their applications in devices that require a simultaneous supply of high power and high energy. In order to improve the energy density of EDLCs, the concept of hybridization of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and EDLCs has gathered much attention in past years. Such a hybrid is typically referred to as “lithium-ion capacitor” (LIC) or “lithium capacitor” and essentially utilizes a lithium intercalating anode (such as graphite or Li₄Ti₅O₁₂) and a fast charging-discharging EDLC electrode (such as activated carbon, carbon nanostructures) in a lithium-salt based electrolyte. Although such a system sounds quite ideal in theory, there are major challenges that need to be addressed in order to fully realize the benefits of LIB and EDLC electrodes in conjunction. Most of these challenges stem from the mismatch in capacity of the electrodes and also the charging-discharging times of the electrodes. For instance, the EDLC electrode acts as the limiting factor for the capacity of the system while the LIB electrode limits the power of the system. Here we have fabricated a hybrid capacitor that utilizes a Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) based anode and an activated carbon (AC) composite based cathode. Half-cell testing for both LTO and AC have been shown along with full cell evaluation.

The rapid development in miniaturized electronic devices has led to an ever increasing demand for high-performance rechargeable micropower scources. Microsupercapacitors in particular have gained much attention in recent years owing to their ability to provide high pulse power while maintaining long cycle lives. Carbon microelectromechanical systems (C-MEMS) is a powerful approach to fabricate high aspect ratio carbon microelectrode arrays, which has been proved to hold great promise as a platform for energy storage. C-MEMS is a versatile technique to create carbon structures by pyrolyzing a patterned photoresist. Furthermore, different active materials can be loaded onto these microelectrode platforms for further enhancement of the electrochemical performance of the C-MEMS platform. In this article, different techniques and methods in order to enhance C-MEMS based various electrochemical capacitor systems have been discussed, including electrochemical activation of C-MEMS structures for miniaturized supercapacitor applications, integration of carbon nanostructures like carbon nanotubes onto C-MEMS structures and also integration of pseudocapacitive materials such as polypyrrole onto C-MEMS structures.

Crystalline Silicon (c-Si) solar cell has presented itself as the ultimate solution for solving the cost and efficiency dilemma for the solar industry. We at Banpil have been working on the development of novel solar cells based on nanostructures to increase the conversion efficiency significantly over standard solar cells. These nanostructure based c-Si solar cells could potentially break the cost barrier that has thwarted the photovoltaic industry. In this work, we have designed ultrathin c-Si solar cells based on nanostructures, enabling a light trapping phenomenon to achieve a power density ranging from 0.91 W/g to 3.5 W/g, which is from 3.5 to more than 10 times over available standard c-Si solar cells.

Microwave heating methods are very popular for developing chemical syntheses that are achieved much more rapidly or with less solvent than via conventional heating methods. Their application to solar cell development has been primarily in developing improvements in the synthesis of dyes and curing of polymer substrates, but not in assisting the photoanode construction of dye-sensitized solar cells. Microwave heating of conducting substrates can lead to arcing of electricity in the reactor, which in turn, can lead to extensive degradation or complete destruction of the photoanode. Here we present our work in applying a pulsed microwave heating method that affords quicker dye deposition times in comparison to conventional heating (μw 40 min, conventional 60 min) with similar dye concentrations as characterized by UV-Vis absorbance, contact angle measurements, and cyclic voltammetry. Our photoanodes are constructed with anatase TiO₂ cured onto FTO glass, and deposition of the N719 ruthenium dye either directly to the TiO₂ layer or through amide bond formation to a silane layer that has been deposited on the TiO₂ layer. Modest improvements in the solar energy conversion efficiency are shown through the microwave method in comparison to conventional heating (μw 0.78% vs. conventional 0.25% reported by K. Szpakolski, et. Al. Polyhedron, 2013, 52, 719-732.)

A series of experiments were conducted to investigate and characterize the concept of ferrofluidic induction - a process for generating electrical power via cyclic oscillation of ferrofluid (iron-based nanofluid) through a solenoid. Experimental parameters include: number of bias magnets, magnet spacing, solenoid core, fluid pulse frequency and ferrofluid-particle diameter. A peristaltic pump was used to cyclically drive two aqueous ferrofluids, consisting of 7-10 nm iron-oxide particles and commercially-available hydroxyl-coated magnetic beads (~800 nm), respectively. The solutions were pulsated at 3, 6, and 10 Hz through 3.2 mm internal diameter Tygon tubing. A 1000 turn copper-wire solenoid was placed around the tube 45 cm away from the pump. The experimental results indicate that the ferrofluid is capable of inducing a maximum electric potential of approximately +/- 20 μV across the solenoid during its cyclic passage. As the frequency of the pulsating flow increased, the ferro-nanoparticle diameter increased, or the bias magnet separation decreased, the induced voltage increased. The type of solenoid core material (copper or plastic) did not have a discernible effect on induction. These results demonstrate the feasibility of ferrofluidic induction and provide insight into its dependence on fluid/flow parameters. Such fluidic/magneto-coupling can be exploited for energy harvesting and/or conversion system design for a variety of applications.

This paper presents a review of piezoelectric based energy harvesting devices and their charge collection electronics for use in very harsh environment of gun-fired munitions. A number of novel classes of such energy harvesting power sources have been developed for gun-fired munitions and similar applications, including those with integrated safety and firing setback event detection electronics and logic circuitry. The power sources are designed to harvest energy from firing acceleration and vibratory motions during the flight. As an example, the application of the developed piezoelectric based energy harvesting devices with event detection circuitry for the development of self-powered initiators with full no-fire safety circuitry for protection against accidental drops, transportation vibration, and other similar low amplitude accelerations and/or high amplitude but short duration acceleration events is presented. The design allows the use of a very small piezoelectric element, thereby allowing such devices to be highly miniaturized. These devices can be readily hardened to withstand very high G firing setback accelerations in excess of 100,000 G and the harsh firing environment. The design of prototypes and testing under realistic conditions are presented.

Developing highly sensitive, selective, and reproducible miniaturized bio-sensing platforms require reliable biointerface which should be compatible with microfabrication techniques. In this study, we have fabricated pyrolyzed carbon arrays with high surface area as a bio-sensing electrode, and developed the surface functionalization methods to increase biomolecules immobilization efficiency and further understand electrochemical phenomena at biointerfaces. The carbon microelectrode arrays with high aspect ratio have been fabricated by carbon microelectromechanical systems (C-MEMS) and nanomaterials such as graphene have been integrated to further increase surface area. To achieve the efficient covalent immobilization of biomolecules, various oxidation and reduction functionalization methods have been investigated. The oxidation treatment in this study includes vacuum ultraviolet, electrochemical activation, UV/Ozone and oxygen RIE. The reduction treatment includes direct amination and diazonium grafting. The developed bio-sensing platform was then applied for several applications, such as: DNA sensor; H₂O₂ sensor; aptamer sensor and HIV sensor.

Desulfuromonas acetoxidans IMV B-7384 is exoelectrogenic obligate anaerobic sulfur-reducing bacterium. Its one of the first described electrogenic bacterium that performs complete oxidation of an organic substrate with electron transfer directly to the electrode in microbial fuel cell (MFC). This bacterium is very promising for MFC development because of inexpensive cultivation medium, high survival rate and selective resistance to various heavy metal ions. The size of D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 cells is comparatively small (0.4-0.8×1-2 μm) that is highly beneficial while application of porous anode material because of complete bacterial cover of an electrode area with further significant improvement of the effectiveness of its usage. The interconnection between functioning of reductive stage of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle under anaerobic conditions, and MFC performance was established. Malic, pyruvic, fumaric and succinic acids in concentration 42 mM were separately added into the anode chamber of MFC as the redox agents. Application of malic acid caused the most stabile and the highest power generation in comparison with other investigated organic acids. Its maximum equaled 10.07±0.17mW/m² on 136 hour of bacterial cultivation. Under addition of pyruvic, succinic and fumaric acids into the anode chamber of MFC the maximal power values equaled 5.80±0.25 mW/m²; 3.2±0.11 mW/m², and 2.14±0.19 mW/m² respectively on 40, 56 and 32 hour of bacterial cultivation. Hence the malic acid conversion via reductive stage of TCA cycle is shown to be the most efficient process in terms of electricity generation by D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 in MFC under anaerobic conditions.

Results for the design and testing of an electromagnetic device that converts ambient mechanical vibration into electricity are presented. The design of the device is based on an L-shaped beam structure which is tuned so that the first two natural frequencies have a near two-to-one ratio which is referred to as an internal resonance or autoparametic condition. It is shown that in contrast to single degree-of-freedom, linear-dynamics-based vibration harvesters which convert energy in a very narrow frequency band the prototype can generate power over an extended frequency range when subject to harmonic, base displacement excitation.