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Piezoelectric and Triboelectric Energy Harvesters for Flexible and Wearable Devices

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 24556

Special Issue Editors

Micro and Nanotechnology Research Center, Universidad Veracruzana, Boca del Río 94294, Mexico
Interests: microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS); microfluidics; mechanical design; microgripper; energy harvesting; magnetic field sensors; resonators; finite element method; mirrors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
CONACYT-Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Boulevard Enrique Reyna 140, 25294 Saltillo Coahuila, México
Interests: optical and electrochemiluminescence biosensors, piezoelectric and triboelectric energy harvesting microdevices
Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Veracruz, Calzada Ruiz Cortines 455, Boca del Río, Veracruz 94294, Mexico
Interests: design and modelling of MEMS; integrated circuits and microsensors characterization for biomedical, environment and industrial applications, and energy harvesting devices

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Future flexible and wearable devices will be connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve their performance and communication with users and other sensors. To supply these devices, the mechanical energy of the surrounding environment can be converted into electrical energy-using energy harvesters based on piezoelectric and triboelectric effects. Thus, these systems could substitute conventional lithium-ion batteries. The energy harvesters can be designed using different piezoelectric and triboelectric materials. For this, analytical and numerical models must be developed to predict the optimal performance of energy harvesters, considering their better materials and structural configurations.

For this Special Issue, we welcome submissions of review articles, as well as original research papers related with the design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization of piezoelectric and triboelectric energy harvesters for potential applications in flexible and wearable devices.

Dr. Agustin L. Herrera-May
Dr. Arxel de León Santillán
Dr. Francisco López-Huerta
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. Sensors 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 2600 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

  • Characterization of energy harvesters;
  • Design and modeling of energy harvesters;
  • Fabrication of energy harvesters;
  • Flexible devices;
  • Internet of Things;
  • Piezoelectric;
  • Triboelectric;
  • Wearable devices.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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42 pages, 14134 KiB  
Review
A Review of Piezoelectric PVDF Film by Electrospinning and Its Applications
by Gulnur Kalimuldina, Nursultan Turdakyn, Ingkar Abay, Alisher Medeubayev, Arailym Nurpeissova, Desmond Adair and Zhumabay Bakenov
Sensors 2020, 20(18), 5214; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20185214 - 12 Sep 2020
Cited by 171 | Viewed by 21958
Abstract
With the increase of interest in the application of piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in nanogenerators (NGs), sensors, and microdevices, the most efficient and suitable methods of their synthesis are being pursued. Electrospinning is an effective method to prepare higher content β-phase PVDF nanofiber [...] Read more.
With the increase of interest in the application of piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in nanogenerators (NGs), sensors, and microdevices, the most efficient and suitable methods of their synthesis are being pursued. Electrospinning is an effective method to prepare higher content β-phase PVDF nanofiber films without additional high voltage poling or mechanical stretching, and thus, it is considered an economically viable and relatively simple method. This work discusses the parameters affecting the preparation of the desired phase of the PVDF film with a higher electrical output. The design and selection of optimum preparation conditions such as solution concentration, solvents, the molecular weight of PVDF, and others lead to electrical properties and performance enhancement in the NG, sensor, and other applications. Additionally, the effect of the nanoparticle additives that showed efficient improvements in the PVDF films was discussed as well. For instance, additives of BaTiO3, carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanoclays, and others are summarized to show their contributions to the higher piezo response in the electrospun PVDF. The recently reported applications of electrospun PVDF films are also analyzed in this review paper. Full article
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Other

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12 pages, 6390 KiB  
Letter
Synthesis of ZnO Nanorod Film Deposited by Spraying with Application for Flexible Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Microdevices
by Ernesto A. Elvira-Hernández, Jorge Romero-García, Antonio Ledezma-Pérez, Agustín L. Herrera-May, Ernesto Hernández-Hernández, Luis A. Uscanga-González, Víctor A. Jarvio-Cordova, Gilberto Hurtado, Carlos Gallardo-Vega and Arxel de León
Sensors 2020, 20(23), 6759; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20236759 - 26 Nov 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1927
Abstract
Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things have significantly increased the use of sensors and electronic products based on flexible substrates, which require electrical energy for their performance. This electrical energy can be supplied by piezoelectric vibrational energy harvesting (pVEH) devices. These devices [...] Read more.
Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things have significantly increased the use of sensors and electronic products based on flexible substrates, which require electrical energy for their performance. This electrical energy can be supplied by piezoelectric vibrational energy harvesting (pVEH) devices. These devices can convert energy from ambient mechanical excitations into electrical energy. In order to develop, these devices require piezoelectric films fabricated with a simple and low-cost process. In this work, we synthesize ZnO nanorod film by a solvothermal method and deposit by spraying on ITO (indium-tin-oxide)/PET (polyethylene terephthalate) flexible substrate for a pVEH microdevice. The results of the characterization of the ZnO nanorod film using X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirm the typical reflections for this type of nanomaterial (JCPDS 36-145). Based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, the size of the nanorod film is close to 1380 nm, and the average diameter is 221 ± 67 nm. In addition, the morphological characteristics of the ZnO nanorod film are obtained using atomic force microscopy (AFM) tapping images. The pVEH microdevice has a resonant frequency of 37 Hz, a generated voltage and electrical power of 9.12 V and 6.67 μW, respectively, considering a load resistance of 107.7 kΩ and acceleration of 1.5 g. The ZnO nanorod film may be applied to pVEH microdevices with flexible substrates using a low-cost and easy fabrication process. Full article
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