Ni-Zn Ferrite Core Characterization for Magnetic-based Energy Harvesting Application

In this work, the magnetic properties of Ni-Zn ferrite cores are characterized in order to apply this kind of soft magnetic material in energy harvesting system. Morphology studies and magnetic characterizations have been performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). A commercial ferrite core was analyzed in order to be applied in a magnetic- induction based energy harvester setting up on power lines. The samples behaved as a soft magnetic materials with magnetization 60 emu•g-1 and presented homogeneous morphology consisting of agglomerates of hexagonal particles. Using this kind of magnetic core, it was assembled an electrical coil on it and the obtained coil/core set was set up on a power line from an experimental test platform. According to the obtained experimental results, the energy harvested from the set is capable of supplying up to 1.69 mW by harvesting the alternate magnetic field produced by a 5A current passed into the power line. This obtained harvested energy would be applied to supply low-power electronic devices mainly in wireless sensor network.