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MEMS Energy Harvesting and Low-Power Sensing
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MEMS Energy Harvesting and Low-Power Sensing

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2022) | Viewed by 6164

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Vittorio Ferrari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Information Engineering (DII), University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Interests: piezoelectric sensors and transducers; resonant and acoustic-wave sensors; energy harvesting for sensors; sensor interface electronics; MEMS and microsensors for physical quantities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Alberto Corigliano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile ed Ambientale, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: material and structural mechanics; computational mechanics; physically based AI; advanced materials; metamaterials; MEMS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The upcoming applications of the Internet of Things and pervasive sensing require miniaturized sensor units with an extended lifetime under ideally unattended operation, which may result in minimal use of energy in sensor units and the development of next-generation energy-frugal devices.

Approaches that complement each other to reach the same goal include energy harvesting, i.e., converting sparse energy available in the surroundings across different domains into electrical energy, and low-power sensing. When the two are combined, energy self-sufficiency can be potentially obtained.

Today, MEMS (microelectromechanical system) technology is often the first choice in sensor applications and is expanding further, taking advantage of new materials and processes, such as piezoelectric and thermoelectric films.

While macroscale energy harvesting examples are now a confirmed reality, its implementation into MEMS is an open field of research that is attracting efforts across several disciplines from academia and industry, and there are expectations that MEMS platforms combining advanced energy harvesting methods with improved low-power sensing techniques will result in new devices.

This Special Issue aims to provide an updated snapshot of the current progress along this trend.

We warmly invite you to submit contributions on scientific and technical aspects of MEMS energy harvesting and low-power sensing, ranging from energy conversion techniques and devices to electronic circuits for energy management, low-power sensing techniques and devices, and sensor electronics for signal conditioning and processing.

Topics include but are not limited to the following:

- Theory, design, modeling, fabrication, experimental characterization, and applications of MEMS and microscale energy harvesters;

- Electronic circuits for energy management and storage;

- MEMS autonomous sensors and battery-less sensor nodes;

- MEMS low-power sensing techniques, circuits, and devices.

Prof. Dr. Vittorio Ferrari
Prof. Dr. Alberto Corigliano
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.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 6485 KiB  
Article
Nonlinear Dynamics of a Star-Shaped Structure and Variable Configuration of Elastic Elements for Energy Harvesting Applications
by Jerzy Margielewicz, Damian Gąska, Grzegorz Litak, Piotr Wolszczak and Carlo Trigona
Sensors 2022, 22(7), 2518; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22072518 - 25 Mar 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1610
Abstract
The subject of the model research contained in this paper is a new design solution of the energy harvesting system with a star-shaped structure of elastic elements and variable configuration. Numerical experiments focused mainly on the assessment of the configuration of elastic elements [...] Read more.
The subject of the model research contained in this paper is a new design solution of the energy harvesting system with a star-shaped structure of elastic elements and variable configuration. Numerical experiments focused mainly on the assessment of the configuration of elastic elements in the context of energy harvesting efficiency. The results of computer simulations were limited to zero initial conditions as it is the natural position of the static equilibrium. The article compares the energy efficiency for the selected range of the dimensionless excitation frequency. For this purpose, four cases of elastic element configurations were compared. The results are visualized based on the diagram of RMS voltage induced on piezoelectric electrodes, bifurcation diagrams, Lyapunov exponents, and Poincaré maps, showing the impact of individual solutions on the efficiency of energy harvesting. The results of the simulations show that the harvester’s efficiency ranges from 4 V to 20 V depending on the configuration and the frequency range of the excitation, but the design allows for a smooth adjustment to the given conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesting and Low-Power Sensing)
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20 pages, 1136 KiB  
Article
On the Design of a Thermo-Magnetically Activated Piezoelectric Micro-Energy Generator: Working Principle
by Adrian A. Rendon-Hernandez and Skandar Basrour
Sensors 2022, 22(4), 1610; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22041610 - 18 Feb 2022
Viewed by 1687
Abstract
This paper deals with a new design of a thermo-magnetically activated piezoelectric generator. This proposed generator exploits the temperature-dependent magnetization of a ferromagnetic material, which is exposed to temporary change of temperature cycles. To promote a better understanding of the operation of this [...] Read more.
This paper deals with a new design of a thermo-magnetically activated piezoelectric generator. This proposed generator exploits the temperature-dependent magnetization of a ferromagnetic material, which is exposed to temporary change of temperature cycles. To promote a better understanding of the operation of this mechanism, a global coupled numerical model is presented, which is able to predict the static and dynamic behavior of the generator. It is shown that with some modifications to the physical design, the generator can be tuned for different activation temperatures. Energy densities of 280 and 67 µJcm−3 were achieved by the proposed model of the generator for its opening and closing commutation, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesting and Low-Power Sensing)
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12 pages, 2910 KiB  
Communication
Lead-Free LiNbO3 Thick Film MEMS Kinetic Cantilever Beam Sensor/Energy Harvester
by Gabriel Barrientos, Giacomo Clementi, Carlo Trigona, Merieme Ouhabaz, Ludovic Gauthier-Manuel, Djaffar Belharet, Samuel Margueron, Ausrine Bartasyte, Graziella Malandrino and Salvatore Baglio
Sensors 2022, 22(2), 559; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22020559 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1835
Abstract
In this paper, we present integrated lead-free energy converters based on a suitable MEMS fabrication process with an embedded layer of LiNbO3. The fabrication technology has been developed to realize micromachined self-generating transducers to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy. The [...] Read more.
In this paper, we present integrated lead-free energy converters based on a suitable MEMS fabrication process with an embedded layer of LiNbO3. The fabrication technology has been developed to realize micromachined self-generating transducers to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy. The process proposed presents several interesting features with the possibility of realizing smaller scale devices, integrated systems, miniaturized mechanical and electromechanical sensors, and transducers with an active layer used as the main conversion element. When the system is fabricated in the typical cantilever configuration, it can produce a peak-to-peak open-circuit output voltage of 0.208 V, due to flexural deformation, and a power density of 1.9 nW·mm−3·g−2 at resonance, with values of acceleration and frequency of 2.4 g and 4096 Hz, respectively. The electromechanical transduction capability is exploited for sensing and power generation/energy harvesting applications. Theoretical considerations, simulations, numerical analyses, and experiments are presented to show the proposed LiNbO3-based MEMS fabrication process suitability. This paper presents substantial contributions to the state-of-the-art, proposing an integral solution regarding the design, modelling, simulation, realization, and characterization of a novel transducer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS Energy Harvesting and Low-Power Sensing)
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