This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project proposes to develop an energy harvesting system from ocean waves and currents utilizing the high energy density and high strain density achieved by recent advances in the development of ionic nano-composites. With the growing need for clean and renewable energy, this topic is of interest to the energy industry and general public. The massive ocean surface of the world holds enormous potential for green energy. However, the low energy density and power density of all the current energy harvesting approaches impose severe limitations on utilizing this promising technology for practical applications. One fundamental issue in current energy harvesting approaches based on solid-state energy harvesting materials is the low electric energy density of these materials, and of devices based on them. This project will address these challenges by utilizing the high energy and power density of polymer nano-composites. The proposed approach has the potential to achieve more than two orders of magnitude improvement in the energy density and power density as compared with the current energy harvesting approaches based on the use of solid state electroactive materials in ocean waves. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be the availability of abundant, low-cost and environmental friendly energy, as the vast ocean surface can provide an uninterrupted supply of energy. This project, if successful, will have implications for grid-scale electricity production. The technology developed can also be deployed to power mobile devices at sea. The technology could also be adapted to other energy harvesting approaches based on mechanical motion; for example as a way to power handheld electronics or wireless sensors.
