• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.56-69
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• 2019

Recent advances in low-power sensors and transmitters are driving the search for standalone power sources that utilize unused ambient energy. These energy harvesters can alleviate the issues related to the installation and maintenance of sensors. Particularly piezoelectric energy harvesters, with the ability to convert ambient mechanical energy into useful electricity, have received significant attention due to their high energy density, low cost and operational stability over wide temperature and pressure conditions. In order to maximize the generated electrical power, the natural frequency of the piezoelectric energy harvester should be matched with the dominant frequency of ambient vibrations. However, piezoelectric energy harvesters typically exhibit a narrow bandwidth, thus, it becomes difficult to operate near resonance under broadband ambient vibration conditions. Therefore, the resonating of energy harvesters is critical to generate maximum output power under ambient vibration conditions. For this, energy harvesters should have broadband natural frequency or actively tunable natural frequency with ambient vibrations. Here, we review the most plausible broadband energy harvesting techniques of the multi-resonance, nonlinearity, and self-resonance tuning. The operation mechanisms and recent representative studies of each technique are introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. In addition, we look into the future research direction for the broadband energy harvester.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.416-425
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• 2021

In the 4^th industrial age, electronic devices are becoming smaller and lighter with a low power consumption to overcome spatial limitation. The piezoelectric energy harvesters can convert mechanical kinetic energy into electric energy; thus, enabling the operation of small electronic devices. Recently, various piezoelectric harvesters have been reported and the electric output from these harvesters could be anticipated by theoretical analysis methods. For example, COMSOL Multiphysics software provides a theoretical simulation of piezoelectric effect with a combination of mechanical and electrical phenomena in the piezoelectric materials. This article introduces a brief modeling of piezoelectric harvester to investigate mechanical stress and electrical output of harvesting devices by the COMSOL Multiphysics software.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2018

Increasing interest in prognostics and health management has heightened the need for wireless sensor networks (WSN) with efficient power sources. Piezoelectric energy harvesters using Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) are one of the candidate power sources for WSNs as they efficiently convert mechanical vibration energy into electrical energy. These types of devices are resonated at a specific frequency, which has a significant impact on the amount of energy harvested, by external vibration. Hence, precise prediction of mechanical deformation including modal analysis of piezoelectric devices is crucial for estimating the energy generated under specific conditions. In this study, an experimental vibrational system capable of controlling a wide range of frequencies and accelerations was designed to generate mechanical vibration for piezoelectric energy harvesters. In conjunction with MATLAB, the system automatically finds the resonance frequency of harvesters. A small accelerometer and non-contact laser displacement sensor are employed to investigate the mechanical deformation of harvesters. Mechanical deformation under various frequencies and accelerations were investigated and analyzed based on data from two types of sensors. The results verify that the proposed system can be employed to carry out vibration experiments for piezoelectric harvesters and measurement of their mechanical deformation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.776-780
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• 2016

Recently, energy harvesting technology is increasing due to the fossil fuel shortages. To compensate problem of low generating power than other energy harvesters, many researchers have studied about piezoelectric harvester for obtaining high output. In this paper, four kinds of unimorph based piezoelectric harvesters were proposed and its generating characteristics were studied. Each of the piezoelectric harvesters has three, four, and six unimorph arms, respectively, and the arms are symmetrically arranged from one central point. The centrosymmetric structure of the harvesters guarantees more stable and multiplied generation than a cantilever-type harvester since the arms of the harvester resonate at same frequency. Resonance frequency, output voltage, displacement, and stress characteristics of the generator were analyzed by using a FEM (finite element method) program. Harvesters were fabricated on the basis of analysis results. Experimental results were compared with simulated results.

• Ceramist
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.54-88
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• 2020

Global effort has resulted in tremendous progress with energy harvesters that extract mechanical energy from ambient sources, convert it to electrical energy, and use it for systems such as wrist watches, mobile electronic devices, wireless sensor nodes, health monitoring, and biosensors. However, harvesting a single energy source only still pauses a great challenge in driving sustainable and maintenance-free monitoring and sensing devices. Over the last few years, research on high-performance mechanical energy harvesters at the micro and nanoscale has been directed toward the development of hybrid devices that either aim to harvest mechanical energy in addition to other types of energies simultaneously or to exploit multiple mechanisms to more effectively harvest mechanical energy. Herein, we appraise the rational designs for multiple energy harvesting, specifically state-of-the-art hybrid mechanical energy harvesters that employ multiple piezoelectric and triboelectric mechanisms to efficiently harvest mechanical energy. We identify the critical material parameters and device design criteria that lead to high-performance hybrid mechanical energy harvesters. Finally, we address the future perspectives and remaining challenges in the field.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.263-272
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• 2018

Recent developments in the field of energy harvesting technology that convert ambient energy resources into electricity enable the use of self-powered energy systems in wearable and portable electronic devices without the need for additional external power sources. In particular, piezoelectric-effect-based flexible energy harvesters have drawn much attention because they can guarantee power generation from ubiquitous mechanical and vibrational movements. In response to demand for sustainable, permanent, and remote use of real-life personal electronics, many research groups have investigated flexible piezoelectric energy harvesters (f-PEHs) that employ nanoscaled piezoelectric materials such as nanowires, nanoparticles, nanofibers, and nanotubes. In those attempts, they have proven the feasibility of energy harvesting from tiny periodic mechanical deformations and energy utilization of f-PEH in commercial electronic devices. This review paper provides a brief overview of f-PEH devices based on piezoelectric nanomaterials and summarizes the development history, output performance, and applications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.397-404
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• 2010

The use of equivalent circuit models of piezoelectric energy harvesters is inevitable when power circuitry including rectifying and smoothing circuit elements is connected to them for evaluating DC electrical outputs. This is because it is difficult to incorporate the electro-mechanical coupling resulting from the additional circuitry into the conventional finite element analysis. Motivated by this observation, we propose a method to accurately extract the equivalent circuit parameters by using commercially available FEM software such as ANSYS which provides three-dimensional AC piezoelectric analysis. Then the equivalent circuit can be analyzed by circuit simulators such as $SimPowerSystems^{TM}$ of MATLAB. While the previous works have estimated the circuit parameters by experimental measurements or by analytical solutions developed only for limited geometries and boundary conditions, the proposed method has no such limitation because piezoelectric energy harvesters of any shapes and boundary conditions can be treated in FEM software. For the verification of the proposed method, multi-modal AC electrical power output by using a corresponding equivalent circuit is compared with that by ANSYS. The proposed method is then shown to be very useful in the subsequent evaluation of DC electrical output which is obtained by attaching a bridge diode and a storage capacitor to a piezoelectric energy harvester.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.863-865
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• 2014

Energy problem has been issued in worldwide because fossil fuel has being almost exhausted. A lot of renewable energy have been received attention to replace the energy from fossil fuel. Among them, piezoelectric energy harvester is one of excellent candidates. In general, micro scaled small sized energy harvesters were usually based on the lithography process. However, these lithography process require complicated process and high cost. In this paper, a new process has been proposed for micro-scaled piezoelectric energy harvester. $0.2Pb(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_3-0.8Pb(Zr_{0.52}Ti_{0.48})O_3$ composition was used as piezoelectric material due to excellent piezoelectric properties and also can be easily prepared by mixed oxide method.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.896-902
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• 2012

For most applications of the vibration energy harvesting technology as in wireless sensor networks for smart buildings and plants, the evaluation of DC output performance of vibration energy harvesters is typically required. However, there is no dedicated algorithm for the evaluation. The lack of a dedicated algorithm results from difficulties in the direct incorporation of nonlinear rectifying and regulating circuitry into finite element models of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters. In this study, we develop a dedicated algorithm and present software based on it for the evaluation of not only AC but also DC electrical quantities. Here, an equivalent electrical circuit model is employed. The COMSOL multiphysics simulation tool is adopted for extracting equivalent electrical circuit parameters of a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester and MATLAB is used to make a graphical user interface. The AC voltage and power outputs calculated by the proposed algorithm under various conditions are compared with those by a traditional finite element analysis. The DC output voltage and power through a rectifier are obtained for varying values of smoothing capacitance and external resistance.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.293-300
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• 2022

Flexible, wearable, and implantable electronic sensors have started to gain popularity in improving the quality of life of sick and healthy people, shifting the future paradigm with high sensitivity. However, conventional technologies with a limited lifespan occasionally limit their continued usage, resulting in a high cost. In addition, traditional battery technologies with a short lifespan frequently limit operation, resulting in a substantial challenge to their growth. Subsequently, utilizing human biomechanical energy is extensively preferred motion for biologically integrated, self-powered, functioning devices. Ideally suited for this purpose are piezoelectric energy harvesters. To convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, devices must be mechanically flexible and stretchable to implant or attach to the highly deformable tissues of the body. A systematic analysis of piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) for personalized healthcare is provided in this article. This article briefly overviews PENGs as self-powered sensor devices for energy harvesting, sensing, physiological motion, and healthcare.