An electromagnetic energy harvester using ferrofluid as a lubricant

Abstract

An electromagnetic generator with magnetic spring and ferrofluid is proposed and designed to harvest low-frequency vibration energy from human body motion. The magnetic spring is formed by gravity and magnetic repulsive force between the fixed and the moving permanent magnets. The ferrofluid is aggregated at both ends of the moving permanent magnet, and the ferrofluid layer between the plastic tube wall and permanent magnet can remove the solid-friction as a fluid lubricant. The electromagnetic generator is used to harvest human motion energy. The measured average load powers of electromagnetic generator with ferrofluid 1.5 g from human body motion are 1.3 mW and 7.5 mW during walking and low running, respectively, which is 30 times more than the measured average power of generator without ferrofluid.