Energy harvesting: materials, structures and methods

Abstract

With the advent of technology miniaturization, portable electronic devices are evolving at a rapid pace, especially in the field of wireless sensor networks for IoT applications. On the contrary, battery technology has not seen a similar growth in miniaturization. Also, frequent replacement of batteries is challenging for devices located in remote places. Energy harvesting from ambient conditions may be one solution to the above challenges. The IoT and powering of portable devices are becoming increasingly popular among researchers working on structural health monitoring systems. Thermoelectric, piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrostatic and triboelectric mechanisms are the major energy transduction methods adopted in the development of energy harvesting devices. Many of these devices have limitations including relatively low power density, narrow bandwidth and low efficiency at lower frequencies. The virtual International Conference on Advances in Energy Harvesting Technology (ICAEHT 2021, 18–20 March 2021) was organized to bring together researchers working on energy harvesting to discuss possible solutions to the above limitations and future directions. The content of this special issue was inspired from the contributions and discussions made during the ICAEHT 2021 and a few more from invited papers. The 19 selected papers cover thermoelectric, piezoelectric, electromagnetic and triboelectric energy harvesters. Modelling, analysis, optimization, control, experimentation, energy management and application aspects of the harvesters are covered in this special issue entitled “Energy harvesting: materials, structures and methods”. We hope that readers will find this special issue quite interesting, encouraging and novel.