MEMS Energy Harvesters

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2016) | Viewed by 35266

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
Interests: optical and RF-MEMS; power MEMS; integrated MEMS; large area MEMS; microactuators; surface micromachining; bulk micromachining

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Guest Editor
Department of Electronics Engineering, Ewha Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-ku, Seoul 120–750, Korea
Interests: optical MEMS; power MEMS; bio MEMS; electromagnetic actuators; micro and nanofabrication technologies

Special Issue Information

A micro energy harvester is the most vital component for self-sustained integrated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microelectronics that are expected to diffuse in high volume in the coming era of Internet-of-Things (IoT), or the so-called trillion sensors. Science on micro energy conversion, as well as design and fabrication technologies for energy harvester devices are critical to bring foreseen applications to fruition, such as wireless sensors for infrastructure monitoring and remote healthcare, and because of this, topics relevant to energy harvesters are emerging as a topic of relevance in the community of MEMS. The journal Micromachines invites manuscript submissions in the area of MEMS energy harvesters. Original papers are solicited in the following areas, without being limited to: design, fabrication and characterization technologies for energy harvester devices and their energy conversion principles, such as thermoelectric, photovoltaic, electrostatic induction, electromagnetic induction, piezoelectric, and magnetostrictive effects. Novel applications based on MEMS energy harvesters are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Hiroshi Toshiyoshi
Prof. Dr. Chang-Hyeon Ji
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Energy harvesters
  • Energy conversion
  • MEMS
  • Wireless sensors

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

2089 KiB  
Article
Development of a Cantilever-Type Electrostatic Energy Harvester and Its Charging Characteristics on a Highway Viaduct
by Hideaki Koga, Hiroyuki Mitsuya, Hiroaki Honma, Hiroyuki Fujita, Hiroshi Toshiyoshi and Gen Hashiguchi
Micromachines 2017, 8(10), 293; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8100293 - 28 Sep 2017
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5403
Abstract
We have developed a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) electrostatic vibratory power generator with over 100 μ W RMS of (root-mean-square) output electric power under 0.03 G RMS (G: the acceleration of gravity) accelerations. The device is made of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and is [...] Read more.
We have developed a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) electrostatic vibratory power generator with over 100 μ W RMS of (root-mean-square) output electric power under 0.03 G RMS (G: the acceleration of gravity) accelerations. The device is made of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and is fabricated by silicon micromachining technology. An electret built-in potential is given to the device by electrothermal polarization in silicon oxide using potassium ions. The force factor, which is defined by a proportional coefficient of the output current with respect to the vibration velocity, is 2.34 × 10 4 C/m; this large value allows the developed vibration power generator to have a very high power efficiency of 80.7%. We have also demonstrated a charging experiment by using an environmental acceleration waveform with an average amplitude of about 0.03 G RMS taken at a viaduct of a highway, and we obtained 4.8 mJ of electric energy stored in a 44 μ F capacitor in 90 min. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesters)
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2506 KiB  
Article
Karman Vortex Creation Using Cylinder for Flutter Energy Harvester Device
by Ahmed B. Atrah, Mohd Syuhaimi Ab-Rahman, Hanim Salleh, Mohd Zaki Nuawi, Mohd Jailani Mohd Nor and Nordin Bin Jamaludin
Micromachines 2017, 8(7), 227; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8070227 - 21 Jul 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5365
Abstract
This study presents the creation of a Karman vortex for a fluttering electromagnetic energy harvester device using a cylinder. The effects of two parameters, which are the diameter and the position of the cylinder, were investigated on the Karman vortex profile and the [...] Read more.
This study presents the creation of a Karman vortex for a fluttering electromagnetic energy harvester device using a cylinder. The effects of two parameters, which are the diameter and the position of the cylinder, were investigated on the Karman vortex profile and the amplitude of the fluttering belt, respectively. A simulation was conducted to determine the effect of the creation of the Karman vortex, and an experiment was performed to identify influence of the position of the cylinder on the fluttering belt amplitude. The results demonstrated that vortex-induced vibration occurred at the frequency of the first natural mode for the belt at 3 cm and 10 cm for the diameter and position of the cylinder, respectively. Under such configuration, an electromagnetic energy harvester was attached and vibrated via the fluttering belt inside the turbulent boundary layers. This vibration provides a measured output voltage and can be used in wireless sensors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesters)
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4919 KiB  
Article
Helical Piezoelectric Energy Harvester and Its Application to Energy Harvesting Garments
by Minsung Kim and Kwang-Seok Yun
Micromachines 2017, 8(4), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8040115 - 4 Apr 2017
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 6726
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a helical piezoelectric energy harvester, examine its application to clothes in the form of an energy harvesting garment, and analyze its design and characteristics. The helical harvester is composed of an elastic core and a polymer piezoelectric strap [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose a helical piezoelectric energy harvester, examine its application to clothes in the form of an energy harvesting garment, and analyze its design and characteristics. The helical harvester is composed of an elastic core and a polymer piezoelectric strap twining the core. The fabricated harvester is highly elastic and can be stretched up to 158% of its initial length. Following the experiments using three different designs, the maximum output power is measured as 1.42 mW at a 3 MΩ load resistance and 1 Hz motional frequency. The proposed helical harvesters are applied at four positions of stretchable tight-fitting sportswear, namely shoulder, arm joint, knee, and hip. The maximum output voltage is measured as more than 20 V from the harvester at the knee position during intended body motions. In addition, electric power is also generated from this energy harvesting garment during daily human motions, which is about 3.9 V at the elbow, 3.1 V at the knee, and 4.4 V at the knee during push-up, walking, and squatting motions, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesters)
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11797 KiB  
Article
Development of MEMS Multi-Mode Electrostatic Energy Harvester Based on the SOI Process
by Bongwon Jeong, Min-Ook Kim, Jae-Ik Lee, Youngkee Eun, Jungwook Choi and Jongbaeg Kim
Micromachines 2017, 8(2), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8020051 - 13 Feb 2017
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5326
Abstract
Multi-vibrational-mode electrostatic energy harvesters are designed and micro-machined utilizing a simple silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer-based process. Enhanced adaptability to various vibrational environments is achieved in the proposed design by using serpentine springs attached to the fishbone-shaped inertial mass. The experimental results show that the [...] Read more.
Multi-vibrational-mode electrostatic energy harvesters are designed and micro-machined utilizing a simple silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer-based process. Enhanced adaptability to various vibrational environments is achieved in the proposed design by using serpentine springs attached to the fishbone-shaped inertial mass. The experimental results show that the developed device could convert an input vibration of 6 g at 1272 Hz to 2.96, 3.28, and 2.30 μW for different vibrational directions of 0°, 30°, and 45° with respect to a reference direction, respectively, when all serpentine springs are identical. An alternative device design using serpentine springs with different stiffnesses between x- and y-axes exhibited resonance frequencies at 1059 and 1635 Hz for an input vibrational direction of 45° and acceleration amplitude of 4 g, successfully generating 0.723 and 0.927 μW of electrical power at each resonance, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesters)
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1299 KiB  
Article
Optimization Design and Simulation of a Multi-Source Energy Harvester Based on Solar and Radioisotope Energy Sources
by Hao Li, Gaofei Zhang and Zheng You
Micromachines 2016, 7(12), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi7120228 - 14 Dec 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5025
Abstract
A novel multi-source energy harvester based on solar and radioisotope energy sources is designed and simulated in this work. We established the calculation formulas for the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage, and then studied and analyzed the optimization thickness of the semiconductor, doping [...] Read more.
A novel multi-source energy harvester based on solar and radioisotope energy sources is designed and simulated in this work. We established the calculation formulas for the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage, and then studied and analyzed the optimization thickness of the semiconductor, doping concentration, and junction depth with simulation of the transport process of β particles in a semiconductor material using the Monte Carlo simulation program MCNP (version 5, Radiation Safety Information Computational Center, Oak Ridge, TN, USA). In order to improve the efficiency of converting solar light energy into electric power, we adopted PC1D (version 5.9, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) to optimize the parameters, and selected the best parameters for converting both the radioisotope energy and solar energy into electricity. The results concluded that the best parameters for the multi-source energy harvester are as follows: Na is 1 × 1019 cm−3, Nd is 3.8 × 1016 cm−3, a PN junction depth of 0.5 μm (using the 147Pm radioisotope source), and so on. Under these parameters, the proposed harvester can achieve a conversion efficiency of 5.05% for the 147Pm radioisotope source (with the activity of 9.25 × 108 Bq) and 20.8% for solar light radiation (AM1.5). Such a design and parameters are valuable for some unique micro-power fields, such as applications in space, isolated terrestrial applications, and smart dust in battlefields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesters)
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5587 KiB  
Article
A New Method for a Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting System Using a Backtracking Search Algorithm-Based PI Voltage Controller
by Mahidur R. Sarker, Azah Mohamed and Ramizi Mohamed
Micromachines 2016, 7(10), 171; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi7100171 - 23 Sep 2016
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6016
Abstract
This paper presents a new method for a vibration-based piezoelectric energy harvesting system using a backtracking search algorithm (BSA)-based proportional-integral (PI) voltage controller. This technique eliminates the exhaustive conventional trial-and-error procedure for obtaining optimized parameter values of proportional gain (Kp), and integral gain [...] Read more.
This paper presents a new method for a vibration-based piezoelectric energy harvesting system using a backtracking search algorithm (BSA)-based proportional-integral (PI) voltage controller. This technique eliminates the exhaustive conventional trial-and-error procedure for obtaining optimized parameter values of proportional gain (Kp), and integral gain (Ki) for PI voltage controllers. The generated estimate values of Kp and Ki are executed in the PI voltage controller that is developed through the BSA optimization technique. In this study, mean absolute error (MAE) is used as an objective function to minimize output error for a piezoelectric energy harvesting system (PEHS). The model for the PEHS is designed and analyzed using the BSA optimization technique. The BSA-based PI voltage controller of the PEHS produces a significant improvement in minimizing the output error of the converter and a robust, regulated pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal to convert a MOSFET switch, with the best response in terms of rise time and settling time under various load conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesters)
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