Research Progress on Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Devices

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "A:Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 1019

Special Issue Editors

School of Microelectronics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: MEMS devices; physical sensors; microfabrication and nanotechnology

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Guest Editor
School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
Interests: environmental energy harvesting; structural dynamics; power electronics; passive Internet of Things; power management integrated circuits; mechatronics integration
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs), piezoelectric energy harvesting technology has emerged as a sustainable solution to replace conventional power supplies by scavenging ambient energy. These technologies are now integrated into diverse applications, from consumer electronics to smart infrastructure and biomedical implants, demonstrating their transformative potential in future smart societies.

The key challenges lie in achieving highly efficient energy conversion and adapting to low-frequency environments. Beyond material optimization, advanced strategies such as multi-physics coupling mechanisms and impedance matching are being explored. Concurrently, smart structures like MEMS arrays and 3D-printed hybrid systems challenge performance boundaries.

This Special Issue highlights innovations in piezoelectric energy harvesters with an emphasis on self-powering, self-tuning, and intelligent adaptation. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) novel high-power-density piezoelectric materials; (2) reconfigurable broadband structures; (3) self-adaptive interface circuits; (4) multi-scale modeling; and (5) applications in self-powered systems.

Dr. Min Wang
Dr. Junrui Liang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • piezoelectrics materials and structures
  • novel ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials
  • vibration control and application
  • piezoelectric energy harvesting devices and systems

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 5767 KB  
Article
Dragonfly-Wing-Inspired Bluff-Body Piezoelectric Harvester for Efficient Low-Wind-Speed Energy Harvesting
by Zhiyong Zhou, Xinyu Shang, Yebao Xia and Pei Zhu
Micromachines 2026, 17(3), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17030380 - 20 Mar 2026
Viewed by 508
Abstract
Inspired by the wing-opening morphology of dragonflies, a series of bio-inspired dragonfly-shaped bluff bodies are designed and investigated, and further integrated into a piezoelectric wind energy harvester. The energy-harvesting performance and aerodynamic responses of bluff-body configurations with different wing-opening angles (0°, 15°, 30°, [...] Read more.
Inspired by the wing-opening morphology of dragonflies, a series of bio-inspired dragonfly-shaped bluff bodies are designed and investigated, and further integrated into a piezoelectric wind energy harvester. The energy-harvesting performance and aerodynamic responses of bluff-body configurations with different wing-opening angles (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60°) are comparatively analyzed through a combination of numerical simulations and wind tunnel experiments. Experimental results demonstrate pronounced differences among the configurations in the low wind speed regime. Specifically, the prototype with α = 0° achieves relatively higher output under very low wind speeds, whereas the α = 15° configuration exhibits the best overall performance across the entire tested wind speed range. Taking the α = 15° case as an example, the cut-in wind speed is reduced to 1.7 m/s, while the maximum RMS voltage and output power are increased by 20.16% and 44.39% compared with the cuboid bluff body, and by 50.95% and 127.84% compared with the cylinder bluff body, respectively. Further CFD results reveal that, at specific wing-opening angles, the dragonfly-shaped bluff body undergoes a coupled vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and galloping response, enabling certain configurations to sustain stable oscillations with large amplitudes over a relatively wide wind speed range. Within the investigated parameter range, an appropriate selection of the wing-opening angle effectively balances the cut-in capability and output stability under low wind speed conditions. These findings provide useful design guidelines for flow-induced vibration-based wind energy harvesters operating in low wind speed environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress on Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Devices)
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