Renewable energy harvesting technologies, which convert ambient resources such as wind into electrical energy, have attracted significant attention as sustainable power sources for self-powered systems. However, the long-term applicability of wind energy harvesters in remote or extreme environments has not yet been fully discussed, particularly in terms of structural robustness and environmental adaptability. In this study, we designed a double-clamped flutter-type triboelectric generator (DFTEG) for efficient wind energy harvesting and evaluated its output performance under various simulated outdoor conditions. The DFTEG features a modular acrylic frame with a magnet-based assembly for easy maintenance and film replacement, utilizing PTFE films and aluminum electrodes to maximize the charge density difference according to the triboelectric series. Structural optimization revealed that a single-film configuration with a length of 110 mm produced the most stable flutter vibration and a large effective contact area, achieving a maximum open-circuit voltage of 42.28 V and a short-circuit current of 2.89 μA. Furthermore, performance evaluations under various environmental variables, including relative humidity, temperature, and sand particles interference, confirmed consistent electrical output across diverse environmental conditions. These results demonstrate the potential of the proposed DFTEG as an environmentadaptive independent power source capable of stable operation under complex environmental factors.

Energy Harvesting is a technology that can convert wasted energy such as vibration, heat, light, electromagnetic energy, etc. into usable electrical energy. Among them, vibration-based piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) has high energy conversion efficiency with a small volume; thus, it is expected to be used in various autonomous powering devices, such as implantable medical devices, wearable devices, and energy harvesting from road or automobiles. In this study, wasted vibration energy in an automobile is converted into electrical energy by high-power piezoelectric materials, and the generated electrical energy is found to be an auxiliary power source for the operation of wireless sensor nodes, LEDs, etc. inside an automobile. In order to properly install the PEH in an automobile, vibration characteristics includes frequency and amplitude at several positions in the automobile is monitored initially and the cantilever structured PEH was designed accordingly. The harvesting properties of fabricated PEH is characterized and installed into the engine part of the automobile, where the vibration amplitude is stable and strong. The feasibility of PEH is confirmed by operating electric components (LEDs) that can be used in practice.

P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) (Poly (vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene)), which exhibits a high electrostriction of about 7%, can transmit tactile output as vibration or displacement. In this study, we investigated the applicability of P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) to wearable piezoelectric actuators. The P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) layers were deposited through spin-coating, and interspaced with patterned Ag electrodes to fabricate a two-layer 3.5 mm × 3.5 mm device. This layered structure was designed and fabricated to increase the output and displacement of the actuator at low driving voltages. In addition, a laser vibrometer and piezoelectric force microscope were used to analyze the device’s vibration characteristics over the range of ~200~4,200 Hz. The on-off characteristics were confirmed at a frequency of 40 Hz.

Energy harvesting characteristics of trapezoidal piezoelectric cantilever generator, which has a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) laminate film, were compared by longitudinal (3-3) and transverse (3-1) modes. The PZT laminate film, fabricated by a conventional tape casting process, was cofired with Ag electrode at 850℃ for 2 h. A multi-layered Ag electrode by a planar pattern and an interdigitated pattern was applied to the PZT laminate to implement the 3-3 and 3-1 modes, respectively. The energy harvesting performance of the 3-3 mode trapezoidal piezoelectric cantilever generator was better than that of the 3-1 mode. An extremely high output power density of 26.7 mW/cm³ for the 3-3 mode was obtained at a resonant frequency of 145 Hz under a load resistance of 50 ㏀ and acceleration of 1.3 G, which is ~3-times higher than that for the 3-1 mode. Therefore, the 3-3 mode is considered significantly efficient for application to high-performance piezoelectric cantilever generator.

A unimorph piezoelectric cantilever generator with an interdigitated electrode (IDE) was developed for vibration energy harvester applications driven in the longitudinal mode. Hard lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic with a high Q_m of 1,280 was used as the piezoelectric active material. Ten PZT sheets produced by tape casting were laminated and co-fired with an Ag/Pd IDE at 1,050℃ for 2 h. The approximately 280 μm-thick co-fired PZT laminate with the IDE was attached to a stainless steel substrate with an adhesive epoxy for the fabrication of an IDE unimorph cantilever. Its energy harvesting characteristics were evaluated: an output power of 1.1 μW at 120 Hz across the resistive load of 700 k□ was obtained, corresponding to a normalized power factor of 4.1 μW/(G²·cm³).

A railway track generates severe levels of vibrations. In order to reduce these vibrations and to provide structural stability, various rail pads, mats, etc., are used for vibration protection. In this study, a specially designed rail pad was developed to reduce vibration and to generate electric power simultaneously, that is, by using the vibrations generated by railway cars on the track. The newly developed rail pads were tested to evaluate the characteristics of electric power by investigating the generated voltage and the current levels and patterns. In addition, we proposed an optimal laminated structure and adhesive by comparing the voltage generated by each type of adhesive required for optimal adhesion of the rail pad and the piezoelectric device.

Characteristics of a wireless sensor powered by the IDE (interdigitated electrode) embedded piezoelectric cantilever generator were analyzed in order to evaluate its potential for use in wireless sensor applications. The IDE embedded piezoelectric cantilever was designed and fabricated to have a self-resonance frequency of 126 Hz and acceleration of 1.57 G, respectively, for the mechanical resonance with a practical conveyor system in a thermal-power plant. It produced maximum output power of 2.81 mW under the resistive load of 160 Ω at 126 Hz. The wireless sensor module is electrically connected to a rectifier capacitor with capacity of 0.68 farad and 3.8 V for power supply by the piezoelectric cantilever generator. The unloaded capacitor could be charged as a rate of approximately 365 ㎶/s while the capacitor exhibited that of 0.997 mV/min. during communication under low duty cycle of 0.2%. Therefore, it is considered that the fabricated IDE embedded piezoelectric cantilever generator can be used for wireless sensor applications.

In this study, in order to develop coupled vibration mode piezoelectric devices for Acoustic Emission(abbreviated as AE) sensor application with outstanding displacement and piezoelectric properties have been simulatedby ATILA FEM program. And, From the results of ATILA simulation, the AE sensor specimen, obtained superiorelectromechanical coupling factor and displacement, when the size of specimen is 3.45 mmΦ×3.45 mm with ratio ofdiameter/thickness(Φ/T)= 1.0. Therefore, AE sensor was fabricated by (Na,K,Li)(Nb,Ta) O3(abbreviated as NKL-NT)system piezoelectric ceramics using coupled vibration mode. The piezoelectric properties of NKL-NT ceramics wasexhibited that piezoelectric constant(d33), piezoelectric voltage constant(g33) and electro mechanical coupling factor(kp)have the excellent values of 261[pC/N], 40.10[10-3Vm/N], and 0.44, respectively. The manufactured piezoelectric devicewith ratio of Φ/T= 1.0 indicated the optimum values of resonant frequency(fr)= 556.5[kHz], antiresonant frequency(fa)=631.1[kHz], and effective electromechanical coupling factor(keff)= 0.473. The maximum sensitivity of the coupledvibration mode AE sensor was 55[dB] at the resonant frequency of 75[kHz]. The results show that the coupledvibration mode piezoelectric device is a promising candidate for the application AE sensor piezoelectric device.

In this paper, PZT piezoelectric ceramic specimens with 4 compositions (Zr/Ti=50/50, 53/47, 56/44, 58/42) in Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 system were fabricated. We studied effects of poling strength and thermal aging on the temperature characteristics of eletromechanical coupling factor k31 of the specimens, which were poled with the DC electric fields, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 kV/mm respectively and thermally aged for an hour at 200℃. The eletromechanical coupling factor k31 of the specimen with the composition Zr/Ti=53/47, nearest to the morphotropic phase boundary decreased the most greatly, irrelevant to the intensity of poling field, due to 1st thermal aging. And the temperature coefficient of eletromechaical coupling factor k31 was(-) in the ereragonal phase composition and (+) in the rhombohedral phase composition, which is reverse in the temperature coefficient of resonance frequency. It is interesting that eletromechanical coupling factor k31 of PZT ceramics is shown to be able to be able to increase as temperature increase in the interval -20~80℃.