On the power management and electret hybridization of dielectric elastomer generators

Dielectric elastomer generators offer great potential for applications involving human or fluid interaction. Nevertheless, they are passive materials requiring to be poled by a high external bias voltage or by electronic power circuits. These power circuits complicate the system drastically and have slowed down the development of dielectric elastomer generators. Replacing the high-voltage source by an electret is a promising alternative, leading to simple flexible generators. In this paper, after a brief review of the classic electronic circuits used to supply dielectric elastomer generators, we present a complete theoretical study on a new hybridization: named the 'edge mode'. In this mode, we prove the feasibility of flexible 2D autonomous dielectric generators using the edge effects of the electric field induced by electrets (Teflon) to polarize a dielectric elastomer (Danfoss Polypower). To this end, different 2D structures were modelled as a function of various geometric parameters of the structure. After these structures were subjected to a strain of 50%, a scavenged energy of a few mu J g(-1) can be obtained.