When mechanical strain is applied to a PECT material it changes the chemical potential, and therefore the electric potential of that material. Since current flows from more negative materials to more positive materials, it is possible to induce a current flow between two ionically connected materials by simply applying a mechanical strain. It is therefore possible to harness and convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.
A number of materials have been demonstrated to be capable of PECT-based energy harvesting, including:  carbon fibers inserted with lithium, sodiated black phosphorus; lithiated aluminium; and lithiated silicon. A structural carbon fibre composite has also been shown to be capable of harvesting energy using the PECT effect. Conventional lithium-ion batteries have also been shown to be capable of PECT-based energy harvesting.
This effect has most often been demonstrated using a two-electrode bending setup:
# Two electrodes of the same material are connected ionically through an electrolyte, and electrically via an outer circuit.
# A bending deformation is applied causing tension in one electrode and compression in the other.
# The resulting change in chemical potential results in current flow in the outer circuit, which can be used to power an external device.
PECT energy harvesting is limited by the rate of ionic diffusion, and therefore is only efficient at low frequency (typically below around 1 Hz).
Figures of merit for comparing different PECT-based energy harvesters were formulated by Preimesberger et al.