This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The objective of this work is to demonstrate a more efficient method for kinetic to electrical energy conversion based on variable capacitors. The approach is to actively control the dielectric medium of the capacitors and switch from air to liquid during each conversion cycle. The proposed power generator will convert up to four orders of magnitude more energy per cycle versus conventional electrostatic converters. Intellectual merit. Switching of the dielectric media is a novel and efficient way to increase the difference between the minimum and maximum capacitance and respectively the power output of electrostatic converters. The control of the dielectric constant of the capacitors is achieved via electromechanical force effect, which causes dielectric liquid to rise in a gap formed between two parallel, electrically insulated electrodes subjected to a potential difference. Moreover, this work simultaneously implements the micro-power generator with the control loop circuitry enabling further gains in energy conversion efficiency. Broader Impact: The proposed work may revolutionize the area of wireless sensor networks by introducing chip-based converters integrated with power harvesting control and conditioning circuitry. The results from this research will be incorporated in a series of outreach activities including ?Design Your Future Day? sessions for high school girls and presentations given to students in the Questar III New Vision program.
