Abstract

Piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesting systems offer the possibility of distributed power sources for unattended wireless sensors, and other low power applications. In this report, it is demonstrated that it is possible to increase the figure of merit for such energy harvesting systems by over a factor of two using composite piezoelectrics. Improved performance was achieved for 2-2 laminates in which the strong piezoelectric layer comprised >90% of the total volume fraction of the composite. No increase in figure of merit was achieved for 1-3 composite connectivities for a wide range of material choices.