• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.263-272
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• 2018

Recent developments in the field of energy harvesting technology that convert ambient energy resources into electricity enable the use of self-powered energy systems in wearable and portable electronic devices without the need for additional external power sources. In particular, piezoelectric-effect-based flexible energy harvesters have drawn much attention because they can guarantee power generation from ubiquitous mechanical and vibrational movements. In response to demand for sustainable, permanent, and remote use of real-life personal electronics, many research groups have investigated flexible piezoelectric energy harvesters (f-PEHs) that employ nanoscaled piezoelectric materials such as nanowires, nanoparticles, nanofibers, and nanotubes. In those attempts, they have proven the feasibility of energy harvesting from tiny periodic mechanical deformations and energy utilization of f-PEH in commercial electronic devices. This review paper provides a brief overview of f-PEH devices based on piezoelectric nanomaterials and summarizes the development history, output performance, and applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.925-926
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is intended to improve the efficiency of energy harvesting through the optimal design of the PZT system and the electrical system. To improve the efficiency of energy harvesting, it is necessary to increase the output voltage generated from the PZT. In this study, first the mounting position and shape of the PZT which is attached to the cantilever were optimized. Second electric circuit was optimized by using a series connection of a circuit and the electrical resonance frequency. As a result, we improve the output voltage about 5V.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.87-97
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• 2020

In general, tires require various sensors and power supply devices, such as batteries, to obtain information such as pressure, temperature, acceleration, and the friction coefficient between the tire and the road in real time. However, these sensors have a size limitation because they are mounted on a tire, and their batteries have limited usability due to short replacement cycles, leading to additional replacement costs. Therefore, vibration energy harvesting technology, which converts the dynamic strain energy generated from the tire into electrical energy and then stores the energy in a power supply, is advantageous. In this study, the output voltage and power generated from piezoelectric elements are predicted through finite element analysis under static state and transient state conditions, taking into account the dynamic characteristics of tires. First, the tire and piezoelectric elements are created as a finite element model and then the natural frequency and mode shapes are identified through modal analysis. Next, in the static state, with the piezoelectric element attached to the inside of the tire, the voltage distribution at the contact surface between the tire and the road is examined. Lastly, in the transient state, with the tire rotating at the speeds of 30 km/h and 50 km/h, the output voltage and power characteristics of the piezoelectric elements attached to four locations inside the tire are evaluated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.544-544
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• 2014

Energy harvesting technology, which scavenges electric power from ambient, otherwise wasted, energy sources, has been explored to develop self-powered wireless sensors and possibly eliminate the battery replacement cost for wireless sensors. Among ambient energy sources, vibration energy can be converted into electric power through a piezoelectric energy harvester. For the last decade, although tremendous advances have been made in design methodology to maximize harvestable electric power under a given vibration condition, the research in reliability assessment to ensure durability has been stagnant due to the complicated nature of the multiple failure modes of a piezoelectric energy harvester, such as the interfacial delamination, fatigue failure, and dynamic fracture. Therefore, this study presents the first-ever system reliability analysis for multiple failure modes of a piezoelectric energy harvester using the Generalized Complementary Intersection Method (GCIM), while accounts for the energy conversion performance. The GCIM enables to decompose the probabilities of high-order joint failure events into probabilities of complementary intersection events. The electromechanically-coupled analytical model is implemented based on the Kirchhoff plate theory to analyze its output performances of a piezoelectric energy harvester. Since a durable as well as efficient design of a piezoelectric energy harvester is significantly important in sustainably utilizing self-powered electronics, we believe that technical development on system reliability analysis will have an immediate and major impact on piezoelectric energy harvesting technology.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 2016

Energy harvesting technique is to utilize energy that is always present but wasted. In this study, we have developed the energy harvester of the hybrid method utilizing both vibration and pressure of the vehicle traveling a road or parking lot. In the previous study, we have developed a prototype energy harvester, improved hybrid energy harvester, and developed a final product that offers improved performance in the hybrid module. The results were published in the previous paper. In this study, we installed the finally developed hybrid module in the actual parking lot. And we measured the power generation performance due to pressure and vibration, and the running speed of the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling. And we compared the results with those obtained in laboratory conditions. In a previous study performed in laboratory conditions the maximum power of the energy block was 1.066W when one single time of vibration, and 1.830W when succession with 5 times. On the other hand, in this study, we obtained the average power output of 0.310W when the vehicle is running at an average 5 km/h, 0.670W when at an average 10 km/h, and 1.250W when at an average 20 km/h, and 2.160W when at an average 5 km/h. That is, the higher the running speed of the vehicle has increased power generation performance. However, when compared to laboratory conditions, the power generation performance of the energy block in driving speed by 20km/h was lower than those in laboratory conditions. In addition, when compared to one time of vibration of laboratory conditions, power generation performance was higher when the running speed 20km/h or more and when five consecutive times in laboratory conditions, it was higher when the running speed 30km/h or more. It could be caused by a difference of load conditions between the laboratory and the actual vehicle. Thus, applying the energy block on the road would be more effective than that on the parking lot.

• Ceramist
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.54-88
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• 2020

Global effort has resulted in tremendous progress with energy harvesters that extract mechanical energy from ambient sources, convert it to electrical energy, and use it for systems such as wrist watches, mobile electronic devices, wireless sensor nodes, health monitoring, and biosensors. However, harvesting a single energy source only still pauses a great challenge in driving sustainable and maintenance-free monitoring and sensing devices. Over the last few years, research on high-performance mechanical energy harvesters at the micro and nanoscale has been directed toward the development of hybrid devices that either aim to harvest mechanical energy in addition to other types of energies simultaneously or to exploit multiple mechanisms to more effectively harvest mechanical energy. Herein, we appraise the rational designs for multiple energy harvesting, specifically state-of-the-art hybrid mechanical energy harvesters that employ multiple piezoelectric and triboelectric mechanisms to efficiently harvest mechanical energy. We identify the critical material parameters and device design criteria that lead to high-performance hybrid mechanical energy harvesters. Finally, we address the future perspectives and remaining challenges in the field.

• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.56-69
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• 2019

Recent advances in low-power sensors and transmitters are driving the search for standalone power sources that utilize unused ambient energy. These energy harvesters can alleviate the issues related to the installation and maintenance of sensors. Particularly piezoelectric energy harvesters, with the ability to convert ambient mechanical energy into useful electricity, have received significant attention due to their high energy density, low cost and operational stability over wide temperature and pressure conditions. In order to maximize the generated electrical power, the natural frequency of the piezoelectric energy harvester should be matched with the dominant frequency of ambient vibrations. However, piezoelectric energy harvesters typically exhibit a narrow bandwidth, thus, it becomes difficult to operate near resonance under broadband ambient vibration conditions. Therefore, the resonating of energy harvesters is critical to generate maximum output power under ambient vibration conditions. For this, energy harvesters should have broadband natural frequency or actively tunable natural frequency with ambient vibrations. Here, we review the most plausible broadband energy harvesting techniques of the multi-resonance, nonlinearity, and self-resonance tuning. The operation mechanisms and recent representative studies of each technique are introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed. In addition, we look into the future research direction for the broadband energy harvester.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of IIIuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.436-438
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• 2009

In this study, in order to develop the composition of ceramics capable of being sintered at low temperature with high piezoelectric properties, PZW-PMN-PZT system ceramics for piezoelectric energy harvesting application were manufactured according to the amount of PZW addition. And also, their microstructural, dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated. At the sintering temperature of $930^{\circ}C$, a 5 mol% PZW substituted specimen showed a maximum value of density = $7.905g/cm^3$, kp = 0.585, $d_{33}$ = 351pC/N and Qm =1,254, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.49-49
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• 2010

Nanopiezotronics is an emerging area of nanotechnology with a variety of applications that include piezoelectric field-effect transistors and diodes, self-powered nanogenerators and biosystems, and wireless nano/biosensors. By exploiting coupled piezoelectric and semiconducting characteristics, it is possible for nanowires, nanobelts, or nanorods to generate rectifying current and potential under external mechanical energies such as body movement (handling, winding, pushing, and bending) and muscle stretching, vibrations (acoustic and ultrasonic waves), and hydraulic forces (body fluid and blood flow). Fully transparent, flexible (TF) nanogenerators that are operated by external mechanical forces will be presented. By controlling the density of the seed layer for ZnO nanorod growth, transparent ZnO nanorod arrays were grown on ITO/PES films, and a TF conductive electrode was stacked on the ZnO nanorods. The resulting integrated TF nanodevice (having transparency exceeding 70 %) generated a noticeable current when it was pushed by application of an external load. The output current density was clearly dependent on the force applied. Furthermore, the output current density depended strongly on the morphology and the work function of the top electrode. ZnO nanorod-based nanogenerators with a PdAu, ITO, CNT, and graphene top electrodes gave output current densities of approximately $1-10\;uA/cm^2$ at a load of 0.9 kgf. Our results suggest that our TF nanogenerators are suitable for self-powered TF device applications such as flexible self-powered touch sensors, wearable artificial skins, fully rollable display mobile devices, and battery supplements for wearable cellular phones.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.525-530
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• 2023

Stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester (S-PEHs) based on composite materials are considered one of the potential candidates for realizing wearable self-powered devices for smart clothing and electronic skin. However, low energy conversion performance and expensive stretchable electrodes are major bottlenecks hindering the development and application of S-PEHs. Here, we fabricated the S-PEH by adopting the piezoelectric composites with enhanced stress transfer properties and kirigami-patterned textile electrodes. The optimum contents of piezoelectric BaTiO₃ nanoparticles inside the carbon nanotube/ecoflex composite were selected as 30 wt% considering the trade-off between stretchability and energy harvesting performance of the device. The final S-PEH shows an output voltage and mechanical stability of ~5 V and ~3,000 cycles under repeated 150% of tensile strain, respectively. This work presents a cost-effective and scalable way to fabricate stretchable piezoelectric devices for self-powered wearable electronic systems.