Energy Harvesting Technologies and Applications for Wearable/Implantable Electronics

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Power Electronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2019) | Viewed by 28297

Special Issue Editors

College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: nanomaterials and nanodevices; physical and biochemical sensors; microactuators; microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip; flexible electronics and energy harvesting technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, NO.38, Zheda Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: energy harvesting; surface acoustic wave device; sensor system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

 Dear Colleagues,

Wearable and implantable electronics are emerging technologies with widespread applications in portable computing/communication systems, healthcare, medicines, etc.; however, their progress has been limited by energy supply due to the limited lifespans of batteries or the need for a wire connection for electricity. Energy harvesting is a promising technology, which can solve the energy problem for wearable and implantable electronics in the future. Wearable electronics can either use the power harvested from the ambient environment to replenish its batteries, or be designed as self-powered devices without batteries. The energy could be harvested from various sources, such as solar power, electromagnetic wave, thermal energy of body, and mechanical vibration induced during walking, body motion, by heartbeats, etc., based on photoelectric, piezoelectric, pyroelectric and triboelectric effects, etc. The purpose of this Special Issue is to gather the latest developments in energy harvesting technologies and applications in wearable electronics. We welcome all manuscripts with novel ideals in device principles and structures, development and applications of energy harvesting technology with, but not limited to, the following topics: 

  • Novel energy harvesting principles and device structure designs
  • Energy harvesting for powering batteries in wearable/implantable electronics
  • Wearable electronics with self-powered designs without batteries
  • Methods and tools to theoretically simulate and characterize the performance of energy-harvesting devices and applications
  • Development of energy storage unit, such as supercapacitors, in wearable electronics
  • Power management design of energy-harvesting system for a better energy conversion efficiency for wearable electronics

Prof. Dr. Jack (Jikui) Luo
Dr. Jinkai Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Energy harvesting technology
  • Piezoelectric, triboelectric, electromagnetic wave, and pyroelectric effects
  • Energy storage and power management
  • Self-powered wearable/implantable electronics
  • Self-powered and maintainnace-free sensors and microsystems
  • Self-sustaining wearable devices

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 6949 KiB  
Article
Common Switch Fault Diagnosis for Two-Stage DC-DC Converters Used in Energy Harvesting Applications
by Ehsan Jamshidpour, Philippe Poure and Shahrokh Saadate
Electronics 2019, 8(3), 293; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8030293 - 05 Mar 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3663
Abstract
This paper proposes a new Unified Switch Fault Diagnosis (UFD) approach for two-stage non-isolated DC-DC converters used in energy harvesting applications. The proposed UFD is compared with a switch fault diagnosis consisting of two separate fault detection algorithms, working in parallel for each [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a new Unified Switch Fault Diagnosis (UFD) approach for two-stage non-isolated DC-DC converters used in energy harvesting applications. The proposed UFD is compared with a switch fault diagnosis consisting of two separate fault detection algorithms, working in parallel for each converter. The proposed UFD is simpler than the two parallel fault diagnosis methods in realization. Moreover, it can detect both types of switch failures, open circuit and short circuit switch faults. It can also be used for any two-stage non-isolated DC-DC converters based on two single switch converters, no matter the converter circuits in each stage. Some selected simulation and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) experimentation results confirm the validity and efficiency of the proposed UFD. Also, the proposed UFD is applied successfully for fault-tolerant operation of a buck/buck–boost two-stage converter with synchronous control and a redundant switch. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 2815 KiB  
Article
16.8/15.2 ppm/°C 81 nW High PSRR Dual-Output Voltage Reference for Portable Biomedical Application
by Hongwei Yue, Xiaofei Sun, Junxin Liu, Weilin Xu, Haiou Li, Baolin Wei, Taotao Wang and Siyu Lin
Electronics 2019, 8(2), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8020213 - 15 Feb 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4081
Abstract
A dual-output voltage reference circuit with two reference voltages of 281 mV (Vref1) and 320.5 mV (Vref2) is presented in this paper. With a novel and precise circuit structure, the proposed circuit, operating in the subthreshold region, integrates two [...] Read more.
A dual-output voltage reference circuit with two reference voltages of 281 mV (Vref1) and 320.5 mV (Vref2) is presented in this paper. With a novel and precise circuit structure, the proposed circuit, operating in the subthreshold region, integrates two different output voltages into a circuit to form a dual-output voltage reference, and cascode current mirrors are used to enhance the power supply rejection ratio (PSRR). The proposed circuit was designed in a standard 0.18-µm CMOS process and has a series of attractive features: low-temperature coefficient (TC), high-PSRR, low-Line sensitivity (LS), small-chip area and low-power consumption. Monte Carlo simulations for 2000 samples showed that the output voltages 281 mV and 320.5 mV had a variation coefficient of 1.73% and 1.44%, respectively. The minimum power consumption was 84.1 nW at 0.9 V supply, proving that the circuit is suitable for portable biomedical application. The active area of the proposed voltage reference was only 0.0086 mm2. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 1755 KiB  
Article
An Efficient CMOS Dual Switch Rectifier for Piezoelectric Energy-Harvesting Circuits
by Amad Ud Din, Muhammad Kamran, Waqar Mahmood, Khursheed Aurangzeb, Abdulaziz Saud Altamrah and Jong-Wook Lee
Electronics 2019, 8(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8010066 - 07 Jan 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4088
Abstract
In this research work, we investigated a dual switch (DS) active rectifier for the piezoelectric (PE) energy scavenging system. In the proposed DS active rectifier configuration, two extra switches are shunted across the PE transducer which helps the PE transducer’s capacitor in charging [...] Read more.
In this research work, we investigated a dual switch (DS) active rectifier for the piezoelectric (PE) energy scavenging system. In the proposed DS active rectifier configuration, two extra switches are shunted across the PE transducer which helps the PE transducer’s capacitor in charging and discharging which results in maximum power extraction from the PE transducer. Moreover, in the proposed rectifier configuration comparator controlled active diodes are used instead of conventional/passive diodes to minimize the threshold voltage V T H drop. The proposed DS active rectifier design is fabricated in a 1-poly 6-metal 180-nm standard CMOS process. The simulation and measured results of the proposed DS active rectifier design have the better power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 91.5 %, which definitely helps in extracting more power than the conventional full bridge rectifier (FBR). Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3834 KiB  
Article
Dual Battery Storage System: An Optimized Strategy for the Utilization of Renewable Photovoltaic Energy in the United Kingdom
by Sarvar Hussain Nengroo, Muhammad Ahmad Kamran, Muhammad Umair Ali, Do-Hyun Kim, Min-Soo Kim, Altaf Hussain and Hee Jee Kim
Electronics 2018, 7(9), 177; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics7090177 - 07 Sep 2018
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 6378
Abstract
The increasing world human population has given rise to the current energy crisis and impending global warming. To meet the international environmental obligations, alternative technological advances have been made to harvest clean and renewable energy. The solar photovoltaics (PV) system is a relatively [...] Read more.
The increasing world human population has given rise to the current energy crisis and impending global warming. To meet the international environmental obligations, alternative technological advances have been made to harvest clean and renewable energy. The solar photovoltaics (PV) system is a relatively new concept of clean technology that can be employed as an autonomous power source for a range of off-grid applications. In this study, the dual battery storage system is coupled with a solar PV system and a low voltage grid, benefitting from the feed-in tariff (FIT) policy. The main outcomes of this study are: (I) A novel dual battery storage system for the optimal use of the PV system/energy is proposed; (II) The problem is formulated in the form of a mathematical model, and a cost function is devised for effective cost calculation; (III) An optimal cost analysis is presented for the effective use of PV energy; (IV) real-time data of a solar PV taken from the owner and the demand profile collected from the user is applied to the proposed approach, with United Kingdom (UK) tariff incentives. This system works in a loop by charging one system from the solar PV for one day, and discharging the other system. This model gives certainty that power is exported to the grid when the solar PV generates an excess amount; batteries are utilized during the peak hours, and power is purchased when the demand is not met by the batteries, or when the demand is higher than the generation. This study examined the economic knowledge of solar PV and battery storage systems by considering the FIT incentives. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

31 pages, 6701 KiB  
Review
Energy Harvesting Technologies and Equivalent Electronic Structural Models—Review
by Borja Pozo, José Ignacio Garate, José Ángel Araujo and Susana Ferreiro
Electronics 2019, 8(5), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8050486 - 30 Apr 2019
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 9198
Abstract
As worldwide awareness about global climate change spreads, green electronics are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to diminish pollution. Thus, nowadays energy efficiency is a paramount characteristic in electronics systems to obtain such a goal. Harvesting wasted energy from human activities and [...] Read more.
As worldwide awareness about global climate change spreads, green electronics are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to diminish pollution. Thus, nowadays energy efficiency is a paramount characteristic in electronics systems to obtain such a goal. Harvesting wasted energy from human activities and world physical phenomena is an alternative to deal with the aforementioned problem. Energy harvesters constitute a feasible solution to harvesting part of the energy being spared. The present research work provides the tools for characterizing, designing and implementing such devices in electronic systems through their equivalent structural models. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop