Management Circuit Research Articles

Triboelectric nanogenerator based wearable energy harvesting devices

With the miniaturization and functionalization of electronic devices, wearable electronics has drawn generally attention, but the energy supply for wearable electronics becomes one of the most burning questions. The triboelectric nanogenerator based on the coupling effects of electrostatic induction and triboelectrification, which has low cost and wide material selection attributes, proves to be a powerful technology for converting low-frequency mechanical energy into electricity. In this review, the four fundamental modes of triboelectric nanogenerator and the physical mechanism of contact-electrification are presented first. Then, we introduce the research progress of wearable from the direct and indirect aspects. Directly wearable triboelectric nanogenerator can be integrated into a skin while indirectly wearable device is only allowed to assemble into user’s clothing or its appendages. In addition, the power management circuits for driving electronic devices and energy storage are summarized. Finally, we discuss the current bottlenecks and present our perspectives on future directions in this field.

Fundamentals of Integrated Transformers: From Principles to Applications

Magnetic transformers are conventionally used for distributing and converting electrical energy and managing high electrical powers. They are typically large and bulky, such that one may wonder whether they can go along with integrated circuits at all. However, their use in integrated circuits is absolutely ubiquitous [1]-[13]. They are used to implement fully integrated power amplifiers, frequency synthesizers, complete wireless transceivers, and power management circuits. They are indeed very useful, as they offer galvanic isolation to realize ac coupling while also allowing one to implement single-ended to differential conversion and signal or power combining.

RF energy harvesting prototype operating on multiple frequency bands with advanced power management

<span>Radio Frequency (RF) harvesting seems to be catching up as an alternate energy source whereby RF energy is scavenged from ambient sources and converted into renewable energy in terms of DC power. This converted DC power is then utilized to power up devices that require a low start up power in which eliminates the need for battery replacement. In this paper, a novel RF energy harvesting prototype is presented which consists of two microstrip patch antennas operating on GSM (900MHz) and WIFI (2.4GHz) & WiMAX (2.3GHz) frequency bands with a bandwidth of 220MHz and 10.11MHz respectively to harvest RF signals from ambience. Two matching networks are presented as well to ensure efficient power transfer to load. Rectifiers are designed to transform the RF signals to DC power. The converted DC signals are then combined and fed to a power management circuit which charges a 4.2V NiMh battery and drives a load at a regulated output of 3V.</span>

A chaotic pendulum triboelectric-electromagnetic hybridized nanogenerator for wave energy scavenging and self-powered wireless sensing system

The marine environment monitoring system is of considerable significance to the sea development. However, the power-supply issue of the sensor nodes in the system is a crucial consideration all the time. Here, a chaotic pendulum triboelectric-electromagnetic hybridized nanogenerator integrated with the power management circuit to power the wireless sensing nodes by scavenging wave energy has been proposed. The physical design of the harvester utilized the virtue of low working frequency and high electromechanical conversion efficiency characteristics of the chaotic pendulum. To verify the utility and applicability of the hybridized nanogenerators, several experimental scenarios were selected, the maximum output power of TENG can reach 15.21 μW and the EMG is up to 1.23 mW as triggered by the water wave. The hybridizied nanogenerator can light up about 100 LEDs. Moreover, the self-powered wireless sensing node distant transmission has been realized, and data transmission capability exceeds 300 m. This study provides a new direction of scavenging low-frequency vibrations from the environment of marine, also in the aerospace and industry.

Potential application of Aloe Vera-derived plant-based cell in powering wireless device for remote sensor activation.

It is well proven that electrical energy can be harvested from the living plants which can be used as a potential renewable energy source for powering wireless devices in remote areas where replacing or recharging the battery is a difficult task. Therefore, harvesting electrical energy from living plants in remote areas such as in farms or forest areas can be an ideal source of energy as these areas are rich with living plants. The present paper proposes a design of a power management circuit that can harness, store and manage the electrical energy which is harvested from the leaves of Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera) plants to trigger a transmitter load to power a remote sensor. The power management circuit consists of two sections namely; an energy storage system that acts as an energy storage reservoir to store the energy harvested from the plants as well as a voltage regulation system which is used to boost and manage the energy in accordance to a load operation. The experimental results show that the electrical energy harvested from the Aloe Vera under a specific setup condition can produce an output of 3.49 V and 1.1 mA. The harvested energy is being channeled to the power management circuit which can boost the voltage to 10.9 V under no load condition. The harvested energy from the plants boosted by the power management circuit can turn ON the transmitter automatically to activate a temperature and humidity sensor to measure the environmental stimuli periodically with a ton of 1.22 seconds and toff of 0.46 seconds. This proves that this new source of energy combined with a power management circuit can be employed for powering the wireless sensor network for application in the Internet of Things (IoT).

A universal and passive power management circuit with high efficiency for pulsed triboelectric nanogenerator

The power management circuit greatly improves the energy storage efficiency of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), but the presence of active electronic components in the circuit increases the energy consumption and improves the complexity of the circuit. Here, a passive power management circuit without any active components is designed based on Pulsed-TENG. Theoretical calculation results show that the equivalent impedance of the Pulsed-TENG is zero. The simulations show that the output voltage and energy of the Pulsed-TENG can still reach the maximum values, as the load resistance is as low as 0.001 Ω. These means that the challenging problem of impedance mismatching between TENG and power management circuit is well solved. In simulation and actual test, the energy storage efficiency of the passive power management circuit for Pulsed-TENG can reach 83.6% and 57.8%, respectively. The working principle and affecting factors of the circuit have been discussed, and it is also demonstrated to drive calculator and temperature hygrometer. The passive power management circuit reported here with simple structure, low cost, and high efficiency is a universal design for general Pulsed-TENGs with AC signals, which has promising applications in the self-powered electronic devices and the Internet of Things.

Power Supply Switch Circuit for Intermittent Energy Harvesting

Energy harvesters generate power only when ambient energy is available, and power loss is significant when the harvester does not produce energy and its power management circuit is still turned on. This paper proposes a new high-efficiency power management circuit for intermittent vibration energy harvesting. The proposed circuit is unique in terms of autonomous power supply switch between harvester and storage device (battery), as well as self-start and control of the operation mode (between active and sleep modes). The self-start controller saves power during an inactive period and the impedance matching concept enables maximum power transfer to the storage device. The proposed circuit is prototyped and tested with an intermittent vibration energy harvester. Test results found that the daily energy consumption of the proposed circuit is smaller than that of the resistive matching circuit: 0.75 J less in sleep mode and 0.04 J less in active mode with self-start.

СНИЖЕНИЕ КОНФЛИКТНОСТИ КОММУНИКАТИВНЫХ СПОСОБНОСТЕЙ ГОСУДАРСТВА, ГРАЖДАНСКОГО ОБЩЕСТВА И БИЗНЕСА КАК УСЛОВИЕ РАЗВИТИЯ КЛАСТЕРОВ ХИМИЧЕСКОЙ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОСТИ РОССИИ

In this article, we analyze the decrease in the conflict of communicative abilities of the state, business and society as a cource of social and economic development of the chemical clusters of the Russian regions in the context of the implementation of the import substitution policy. The policy of “involvement in publicity” as a direction of administrative reform in actively implemented in the activities of executive bodies of state power and municipal government. The organization of communication platforms for the for the formation of public interactions between actors and actors involvedin innovative processes, the creation of public and expert counsils at ministries and departments, indicate an understanding of the need to expand communication channels for obtaining diverse information in order to develop and make optimal decisions. The transformation from a purely vertical communication model to a hybrid (vertical-network) model gives rise to mixed results in the public administration system and the development of regiolaj clusters of the chemical industry. The differences in communication strategies and practices of the political and administrative sector and business, civil society are in a contraditctory unity, which is determined by the formation of policies on the concepts of a “strong state”, a new public management and “service state”, the concept of a social state and the concept of involvement in publicity. An analysis of the emerging communicative model of institutional interactions between government bodies and management with clusters of the chemical industry in Russia shows that systemic changes are laid down by the permeability of the political and administrative management circuit and the professional-civil circuit. The dynamic modelof communicative interactions of chemical clusters and public authorities and administrations proposed by the authors is based on the principles of openness and transparency, accountability, ensuring coordination of interactions.

A 30mV input battery-less power management system

This paper presents a fully-integrated on chip battery-less power management system through energy harvesting circuit developed in a 130nm CMOS process. A 30mV input voltage from a TEG is able to be boosted by the proposed Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) voltage booster and a dynamic closed loop power management to a regulated 1.2V. Waste body heat is harvested through Thermoelectric energy harvesting to power up low power devices such as Wireless Body Area Network. A significant finding where 1 Degree Celsius thermal difference produces a minimum 30mV is able to be boosted to 1.2V. Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM) digital control oscillator is the key component for the gate control of the proposed voltage booster. Radio Frequency (RF) rectifier is utilized to act as a start-up mechanism for voltage booster and power up the low voltage closed loop power management circuit. The digitally control oscillator and comparator are able to operate at low voltage 600mV which are powered up by a RF rectifier, and thus to kick-start the voltage booster.

Self-Sustaining Soil Electrical Conductance Measurement Using a DC–DC Power Converter

This paper presents a self-sustained soil electrical conductivity (soil-EC) sensing IC. The sensing system harvests energy and measures the conductivity of the soil simultaneously using the proposed wide-range DC-DC converter. The power management circuits must accommodate the wide variations of the soil conductivity at varying power levels. The time-domain current sensing mechanism, which is embedded in the DC-DC converter, is employed to measure conductivity. Also, the digital codes are recorded and control the converter for achieving maximal power extraction and maintaining high conversion efficiency. The self-sustained soil-EC monitoring IC was fabricated using 0.18-μm CMOS technology. The range of the input voltage from a soil cell is from 0.8 to 1 V when carbon and zinc electrodes are used. The design achieves a tracking efficiency of 98% over an input range of 416-5000 μW, a throughput power range from 150 μW to 4.32 mW, and a peak system conversion efficiency of 88%, while the regulated voltage is about 1.7-1.8 V. The design can also measure the soil EC from 0.114 to 0.744 mS/cm in a resolution of 0.00568 mS/cm per bit.

A high strength triboelectric nanogenerator based on rigid-flexible coupling design for energy storage system

Recently, efficient green energy conversion and storage systems attracts attention due to global environmental pollution and the depletion of fossil fuels. Here, we firstly proposed a novel triboelectric nanogenerator based on the rigid-flexible coupling design (RF-TENG) using the acrylate structure glue (ASG) and the silicic acid gel (SAG) as triboelectric materials. The fully packed ASG layer and SAG layer can be easily prepared by coating ASG/SAG on the Ni foam surface, and Ni foam plays the role of conductive electrode. Remarkably, the reasonable collocation of a rigid ASG layer and soft SAG layer can bring full and effective contact during the triboelectricity process for enhancing the output performance. Moreover, the RF-TENG can work in adverse environment. The corresponding electrical properties, such as the peak value short-circuit current (Isc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), and output power density can achieve 42 μA, 345 V, and 143 μW/cm2, respectively, and 122 commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be easily lighted up by the RF-TENG. Except for that, an effective strategy for energy conversion and storage was designed, and through the proposed power management circuit (PMC), the charging efficiency of MnSe-Supercapacitor (MnSe-SC) has been significantly improved. Due to the high performance of energy conversion and storage, this research is considered promising for promoting the practical application of green energy.

Power management circuit based on micro‐electromechanical systems thermoelectric‐photoelectric integrated power generator

AbstractThermoelectric‐photoelectric integrated power generator and a power management circuit are designed in this letter for the inefficiency of power amplifier and the generation of massive heat of transceiver. Thermoelectric‐photoelectric integrated power generator is composed of thermoelectric power generator at surface layer and photoelectric power generator at bottom layer, absorbing both heat and light energy at the same time. The outputs of thermoelectric and photoelectric power generator are connected with power management circuit after parallel connection. Power management circuit is an interface circuit which is able to boost the small output voltage of integrated power generator from 300 mV to 3.1 V with no external power supply. The innovation is not only structure integration, but also output integration of two power generators. In addition, 3.1 V voltage from power management circuit is compatible with most interfaces in transceiver system. The integrated power generator and power management circuit form a complete power supply module for transceiver and wireless sensor node.

Wearable and self-cleaning hybrid energy harvesting system based on micro/nanostructured haze film

With wearable electronic devices arising, a flexible hybrid energy harvester that is capable to continuously harvest multi-types of energy and seamlessly integrate with human body draws great attentions. In this paper, we introduce a novel self-cleaning flexible hybrid energy harvesting system which includes a groove-shape micro/nanostructured haze thin film (GHF), a flexible power management circuit, and a hybrid energy harvester is integrated by a flexible organic solar cells (F-OSC) with an autonomous single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (AS-TENG) via one common-electrode. This system allows for simutaneously harvesting both solar and mechanical energy through two separate parts (i.e. the top F-OSC and the bottom AS-TENG). The flexible power management circuit simultaneously utilizes the large current of the solar cell and the high voltage of the TENG. In addition, GHF with excellent optical properties, large surface area and super-hydrophobicity has been introduced into the hybrid cell, which serves not only as a triboelectric layer to increase the surface charge density of the AS-TENG, but also as a light-trapping layer to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of the F-OSC. Meanwhile, GHF helps this device to achieve unique functions, such as dust-proof, self-cleaning and self-encapsulating, which significantly improve the stability and repeatability of hybrid power unit in practical applications.

An Up-conversion Management Circuit for Electrical Field Energy Harvester

This paper presents a high-efficiency management circuit using a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) matching circuit for power-line electrical energy harvesting. Due to small internal capacitor of the transducer and heavy load, the traditional circuit of the electrical energy harvesting at a low working frequency of 50Hz has a low transducer efficiency, and cannot be used in both low power-line voltage and heavy load. Besides, the matching impedance varies with the charging voltage. In order to achieve maximum output power during whole charging process, an up-conversion MPPT matching circuit is developed. Higher charging power, and larger ultimate charging voltage in a power-line voltage of 4000V can be obtained by using the MPPT up-conversion matching circuit. In order to drive the wireless sensor with a higher consumption power, an instantaneous discharging circuit is developed. The instantaneous discharging circuit can accumulate weak energy during a long period, and provide a higher power output in a very short time. The management circuit can drive wireless sensor with an output power of 60mW.

A 120°C 20G-compliant vibration energy harvester for aeronautic environments

This paper reports the design, fabrication and testing of a piezoelectric energy harvester operating at 90°C and withstanding 120°C and 20G of acceleration. This harvester, along with its dedicated power management circuit, has been designed to supply a 3-channel Acceleration Measurement System (AMS) for the structural health monitoring of an aircraft engine. This aeronautic-compliant bimorph harvester outputs 6.83mW at 1G, up to 246mW at 8G of acceleration and exhibits a maximum Normalized Power Density of 15.3kg.s.m−3 at 90°C.

Event Driven Time-logging System based on Continuous Operation of Real Time Clock towards Perpetual Electronics

This paper presents a novel time logging system using a real time clock (RTC) powered by a vibrational energy harvester to record the time of events when piezoelectric PVDF film as an event-driven sensor is activated. The power-management circuit normally remains in the sleep mode to cut power supply to the micro-processor and the ferroelectric random access memory. On the other hand, the RTC alone is powered by a battery to keep the time by seamless operation, which lowers the standby power consumption as small as 231 nW. As the PVDF film generates power, the developed power management circuit can supply load current upwards of 8 mA at 3.3 Vdc for external circuit to record the time of events with the energy consumption of 467 µJ.

An Efficient Power Management Circuit Based on Quasi Maximum Power Point Tracking With Bidirectional Intermittent Adjustment for Vibration Energy Harvesting

A power management (PM) circuit based on quasi maximum power point tracking (qMPPT) by maintaining it in maximum power point (MPP) adjacent area is proposed to improve the vibration energy harvesting efficiency. A larger filter capacitor is used to keep the system working in the MPP adjacent area in a long period of time, and the PM circuit can shut down the dc–dc converter for reducing the overall power consumption. When the system deviates from the MPP, a bidirectional buck–boost dc–dc converter turns on to regulate the filter capacitor voltage or extract energy quickly in a short period of time. The experimental results show that the PM circuit can adjust the optimized operating point with the variation of the vibration, the maximum qMPPT efficiency can reach 98.4%, and the maximum end-to-end energy harvesting efficiency can reach 80.6%. The proposed PM circuit can be used in environments permeated with vibration energy to provide energy for the wireless sensor network nodes.

Review of Power Conversion and Energy Management for Low-Power, Low-Voltage Energy Harvesting Powered Wireless Sensors

In this paper, state-of-the-art power electronics and energy management solutions utilized in low-power (less than 5 mW), low-voltage (less than 3 V) energy harvesting powered wireless sensors for Internet of things related applications are detailed. All aspects of an energy harvesting powered sensor system are examined, including the challenges of low-power energy harvesting sources, energy management circuits including power converters and energy storage elements, as well as the impact of wireless sensor pulsed power profiles. In particular, this paper focuses on existing voltage step-up energy management techniques, including the issues of cold-start and maximum power point tracking, as well as energy storage which is necessary for wireless sensor operation. Both academic and commercially available energy harvesting powered systems are examined to provide a comprehensive analysis of existing solutions. Issues that are limiting the current system performance are identified to help define future developments needed to enable efficient and effective energy harvesting powered wireless sensor operation.

Integrated Triboelectric Nanogenerators in the Era of the Internet of Things.

Since their debut in 2012, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attained high performance in terms of both energy density and instantaneous conversion, reaching up to 500 W m−2 and 85%, respectively, synchronous with multiple energy sources and hybridized designs. Here, a comprehensive review of the design guidelines of TENGs, their performance, and their designs in the context of Internet of Things (IoT) applications is presented. The development stages of TENGs in large‐scale self‐powered systems and technological applications enabled by harvesting energy from water waves or wind energy sources are also reviewed. This self‐powered capability is essential considering that IoT applications should be capable of operation anywhere and anytime, supported by a network of energy harvesting systems in arbitrary environments. In addition, this review paper investigates the development of self‐charging power units (SCPUs), which can be realized by pairing TENGs with energy storage devices, such as batteries and capacitors. Consequently, different designs of power management circuits, supercapacitors, and batteries that can be integrated with TENG devices are also reviewed. Finally, the significant factors that need to be addressed when designing and optimizing TENG‐based systems for energy harvesting and self‐powered sensing applications are discussed.

A Microelectronic Sensor Device Powered by a Small Implantable Biofuel Cell.

Biocatalytic buckypaper electrodes modified with pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-dependent glucose dehydrogenase and bilirubin oxidase for glucose oxidation and oxygen reduction, respectively, were prepared for their use in a biofuel cell. A small (millimeter-scale; 2×3×2 mm3 ) enzyme-based biofuel cell was tested in a model glucose-containing aqueous solution, in human serum, and as an implanted device in a living gray garden slug (Deroceras reticulatum), producing electrical power in the range of 2-10 μW (depending on the glucose source). A microelectronic temperature-sensing device equipped with a rechargeable supercapacitor, internal data memory and wireless data downloading capability was specifically designed for activation by the biofuel cell. The power management circuit in the device allowed the optimized use of the power provided by the biofuel cell dependent on the sensor operation activity. The whole system (power-producing biofuel cell and power-consuming sensor) operated autonomously by extracting electrical energy from the available environmental source, as exemplified by extracting power from the glucose-containing hemolymph (blood substituting biofluid) in the slug to power the complete temperature sensor system and read out data wirelessly. Other sensor systems operating autonomously in remote locations based on the concept illustrated here are envisaged for monitoring different environmental conditions or can be specially designed for homeland security applications, particularly in detecting bioterrorism threats.