Candidate For Energy Harvesting Applications Research Articles

Towards Sustainable Energy Solutions: A Comprehensive Analysis of Piezoelectric Sensors for Power Generation

This research review paper comprehensively analyzes electric power generation using piezoelectric sensors. Piezoelectric materials, with their ability to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, have emerged as promising candidates for energy harvesting applications. Through an extensive literature review, this paper examines various studies exploring the principles, advancements, challenges, and applications of piezoelectric-based energy generation. The review encompasses theoretical frameworks, experimental methodologies, and computational models employed in the field. Key findings from the literature are synthesized to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for further research. The abstract highlights the significance of piezoelectric energy harvesting in the context of sustainable energy solutions and outlines potential directions for future investigation

High-efficiency electromagnetic energy harvesting using double-elliptical metasurface resonators.

This study introduces a metasurface (MS) based electrically small resonator for ambient electromagnetic (EM) energy harvesting. It is an array of novel resonators comprising double-elliptical cylinders. The harvester's input impedance is designed to match free space, allowing incident EM power to be efficiently absorbed and then maximally channelled to a single load through optimally positioned vias. Unlike the previous research works where each array resonator was connected to a single load, in this work, the received power by all array resonators is channelled to a single load maximizing the power efficiency. The performance of the MS unit cell, when treated as an infinite structure, is examined concerning its absorption and harvesting efficiency. The numerical results demonstrate that the MS unit cell can absorb EM power, with near-perfect absorption of 90% in the frequency range of 5.14 GHz to 5.5 GHz under normal incidence and with a fractional bandwidth of 21%. The MS unit cell also achieves higher harvesting efficiency at various incident angles up to 60o. The design and analysis of an array of 4x4 double elliptical cylinder MS resonators integrated with a corporate feed network are also presented. The corporate feed network connects all the array elements to a single load, maximizing harvesting efficiency. The simulation and measurement results reveal an overall radiation to AC efficiency of about 90%, making it a prime candidate for energy harvesting applications.

Lead-free silver-indium based halide double perovskites for energy harvesting applications

Herein, density functional theory (DFT) is utilized to analyze physical characteristics of two novel halide double perovskites (HDPs) Na2AgInBr6 and K2AgInBr6. Exchange and correlation energies were estimated via employing generalized gradient approximation (GGA) along with modified Becke-Johnson (mBJ) potential. Geometry optimization predicted nonmagnetic ground state for both HDPs with cubic structure having Fm3m space group. Computed formation enthalpies (ΔHf) and tolerance factors (τG) revealed the thermodynamically stability of both compounds in cubic phase. Na2AgInBr6 is regarded as brittle while K2AgInBr6 is ductile in nature. Na2AgInBr6 exhibited a band gap (Eg) of 1.39 eV while K2AgInBr6 has a Eg of 1.41 eV. Density of states analysis reveals that 4d of Ag- and 4p of Br states are majorly contributing in the higher valence band while In-5s and 4p of Br states are present in lower conduction band and all these states define the semiconductive nature of these systems. Both HDPs are optically active in visible light region suggesting the suitability for solar cell applications. Thermoelectric efficiency is also computed in terms of figure of merit (ZT(e)) whose values for both compounds are 0.7. Based on these outcomes, both HDPs can be considered as highly suitable candidates for energy harvesting applications.

Pressure-dependent physical properties of cesium-niobium oxide: a comprehensive study.

Perovskites, an important class of materials, are mostly utilized in memory and spintronic devices. The thermoelectric response calculations for some perovskite oxides have been reported, but their attributes under pressure have rarely been explored. In this current study, the effects of high pressure on various properties of CsNbO3 perovskite oxides in the cubic phase were investigated using the pseudopotential approach and Boltzmann transport theory. Specifically, the structural electronic dispersion relations, density of states, phonon properties, elasto-mechanical properties, optical constants, and thermoelectric performance of the material were analyzed. CsNbO3 was reported to be dynamically stable through the optimization of energy against volume under ambient pressure conditions. The phonon dispersion curves of CsNbO3 were computed at pressures ranging from 60 to 100 GPa to demonstrate its stability under these pressures. At ambient pressure, CsNbO3 is a semiconductor with a wide direct band gap of 1.95 eV. With the increase in pressure, the band gap starts decreasing. An analysis of the imaginary part of the dielectric constant suggests that this material may be useful for sensors and optoelectronic devices. Various thermoelectric response parameters were tested for CsNbO3 at temperatures from 50 K to 800 K, with a step size of 50 K, and pressures of 60-100 GPa. Based on the calculated power factor values and optical parameters, CsNbO3 proved to be a potential candidate for energy harvesting applications.

Design of an ultra-wideband omnidirectional and polarization insensitive flower petal antenna for potential ambient electromagnetic energy harvesting applications

Developing a polarization insensitive, omnidirectional, and ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna is highly desired for improving the utilization of freely available electromagnetic (EM) radiation energy. In this study, we have designed an UWB antenna based on tapered flower petals and numerically analyzed to show that it is a promising candidate for energy harvesting applications in the infrared (IR) to UV–visible regime. The impacts of design strategy and parameters on the absorption performance are studied numerically. The antenna shows a high performance in both bandwidth and absorptivity (average absorption of 84.5% spanning a broad range from 25 to 800 THz) under normal incidence of plane waves. To get a better understanding behind such high and UWB absorption mechanism, we investigated the electric field (E-field) distribution over the structure. The antenna also generates less than 5% absorption deviation between normal to 45° incident angle and 0.05% absorption deviation between 0° and 90° polarizations for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes. This new design aspect and the numerical findings unfolds the new direction for numerous EM wideband applications such as THz technology, photo detection, bolometric sensing, camouflaging, spectral imaging, and ambient EM energy harvesting applications.

Dielectric, piezoelectric and electromechanical optimization properties of polyurethane/lead zirconate titanate composites for mechanical energy harvesting applications

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is the most common piezoelectric ceramic and exhibits excellent electromechanical conversion properties. But in order to make it more adaptable for energy harvesting applications, we resort to ceramic/polymer composites because of their excellent and tailorable properties. The advantages of this type of composite are high coupling factors due to PZT, mechanical flexibility (PU) and wide bandwidth. In this work, we studied the mechanical and electrical characteristics of this composite, as well as their behavior as a function of the percentage of PZT (by volume). Forth more, we followed the impact of this parameter on the collected energies, as well as others like frequency and resistance. The harvested power significantly increases with increasing PZT, achieving a power value up to 13.4 and 420 nW for PU/PZT 60% and PU/PZT 70%, respectively. In conclusion, composite piezoelectric films have great potential from an energy density viewpoint and could represent interesting candidates for energy harvesting applications.

A compact tilted split ring multiband metamaterial absorber for energy harvesting applications

Unlike conventional power sources, green energy harvesting provides an economical way to power electronic systems for a long time. Compared to the other ambient energy sources such as solar, tidal, thermal, etc., RF energy remains unaffected by bad weather conditions or uninterrupted during night time. RF Energy Harvesting technology can absorb/convert the ambient energy into DC power with the help of an absorber/antenna and rectifying circuit called a rectenna. To improve the absorption characteristics, a metamaterial-based split ring technique is preferred. In this paper, a compact tilted split ring multiband metamaterial-based absorber is designed to resonate in the frequency bands such as LTE2350, WiFi2450, and LTE2600. The proposed absorber is presented with six split rings where the inner two rings are tilted at an angle of 45⁰. The Split rings are placed on an FR4 substrate with 1.57 mm thickness and a thin metal stripped ground plane is placed at the bottom. The simulations are conducted using High-Frequency Structure Simulator software and the parameters considered for analysis are reflection coefficient and absorption. The observed results show that the antenna resonates at frequencies 2.35 GHz, 2.45 GHz, and 2.6 GHz with a return loss of −15 dB, −28 dB, and −27 dB respectively. The radiation pattern in the E plane and H plane are also observed. Besides the multiband characteristics, the compact structure with an overall dimension of 35 mm × 35 mm × 1.67 mm signifies that the proposed Split Ring resonator metamaterial absorber is a good candidate for energy harvesting applications.

Piezoelectric and Electromechanical Characteristics of Porous Poly(Ethylene-co-Vinyl Acetate) Copolymer Films for Smart Sensors and Mechanical Energy Harvesting Applications

This paper investigates energy harvesting performances of porous piezoelectric polymer films to collect electrical energy from vibrations and power various sensors. The influence of void content on the elastic matrix, dielectric, electrical, and mechanical properties of porous piezoelectric polymer films produced from available commercial poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) using an industrially applicable melt-state extrusion method (EVA) were examined and discussed. Electrical and mechanical characterization showed an increase in the harvested current and a decrease in Young’s modulus with the increasing ratio of voids. Thermal analysis revealed a decrease in piezoelectric constant of the porous materials. The authors present a mathematical model that is able to predict harvested current as a function of matrix characteristics, mechanical excitation and porosity percentage. The output current is directly proportional to the porosity percentage. The harvested power significantly increases with increasing strain or porosity, achieving a power value up to 0.23, 1.55, and 3.87 mW/m3 for three EVA compositions: EVA 0%, EVA 37% and EVA 65%, respectively. In conclusion, porous piezoelectric EVA films has great potential from an energy density viewpoint and could represent interesting candidates for energy harvesting applications. Our work contributes to the development of smart materials, with potential uses as innovative harvester systems of energy generated by different vibration sources such as roads, machines and oceans.

Metal Insulator Metal Diode: A Potential Candidate for Energy Harvesting Applications.

Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) diodes used for infrared detection and frequency mixing since many decades and their development for energy harvesting applications in rectenna solar cell has accelerated a decade ago. In the horizon of these applications less complex fabrication methodology, accurate simulation methods and optimum material combination are required. Ultra-fast response of MIM diodes makes them a potential candidate for solar energy harvesting applications. Here in this work, the design and fabrication issues of MIM diode from simulation methodology based on insulating thickness properties to the fabrication methodology are discussed. MIM diode for Al-Al₂O₃-Ag combination is fabricated and characteristics such as I(V), asymmetry and non-linearity are reported.

Development of Sn-doped ZnO based ecofriendly piezoelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting application

In this work, we have a demonstrated zinc oxide (ZnO) polymer-based ecofriendly piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) on a paper substrate for an energy harvesting application. The ZnO thin film is developed on the paper substrate, where different doping concentrations of Sn have been investigated systematically to validate the effect of doping towards enhancing the device performance. The piezoelectric potential of the fabricated device is evaluated by applying three different loads (4 N, 8 N, 22 N), where the source of the corresponding mechanical loads is based on the object of a musical drum stick. The results suggest that the pristine ZnO PENG device can generate a maximum output voltage and current of 2.15 V and 17 nA respectively. Moreover, the ZnO PENG device doped with 2.5% Sn achieved an even higher voltage (4.15 V) and current (36 nA) compared to pristine ZnO devices. In addition, the hydrothermal growth technique used to develop Sn-doped ZnO has the benefits of high scalability and low cost. Hence, the Sn-doped PENG device is a suitable candidate for energy harvesting applications operating in both uniform and non-uniform loading conditions.

The effects of conductive nano fillers alignment on the dielectric properties of copolymer matrix

This research focuses on the improvement of the dielectric and energy harvesting properties of piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer matrix by the alignment of conductive reduced graphene oxide nano fillers. The dispersion and the morphology of the conductive nano fillers on the co-polymer matrix were characterized by scanning electron microscopy which showed a configurational phase transition due to highly conductive nano channel formation, steric hindrance, excluded volume interaction van-der-walls forces between adjacent reduced graphene oxide sheets. Five different piezoelectric nanocomposites were prepared by varying the reduced graphene oxide contents in P(VDF-TrFE) matrix to realize its optimum concentration in the matrix. From our analysis, we observed that, an optimized morphological structure plays a vital role in the formation of polar electroactive β phase on the co-polymer matrix through the good dispersion, filler alignment and interfacial interaction of reduced graphene oxide nano fillers. The as prepared nanocomposite film showed an enhanced crystallinity (50 ∼ 52%), dielectric constant (72 at 1 kHz), piezoelectric charge constant (−23 pC/N) with an output power of 3.2 µW at 1.8 MΩ load for 2 N mechanical force. All the outputs were observed without applying poling process. We expect that our synthesized self-poled nanocomposite can be a useful candidate for energy harvesting applications.

Zinc oxide–tungsten‐based pyramids in construction of ultra‐broadband metamaterial absorber for solar energy harvesting

A new broadband absorber is investigated for the entire frequency domain of solar light (infrared, visible light and ultraviolet). While current absorbers in the literature have limited operation frequencies, investigated structure has a wide bandwidth and a perfect absorptivity (99% at nearly all operation frequencies). The proposed metamaterial absorber has ultra-broadband, angle-insensitive, polarisation-independent characteristics with a different conventional pyramid shape. Whereas other pyramid or truncate pyramid-shaped multi-layered metamaterial absorber (MA) are composed of multi-layered dielectrics and metal combinations, the proposed structure has only three layers. As a result of exhibiting perfect absorption characteristic, the proposed structure is a new candidate for energy harvesting applications in solar energy collection.