J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

DOI 10.1007/s10832-007-9043-4

Advances in energy harvesting using low profile

piezoelectric transducers
Shashank Priya

Received: 31 May 2006 / Accepted: 8 September 2006 / Published online: 14 March 2007
# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007

Abstract The vast reduction in the size and power 1 Introduction

consumption of sensors and CMOS circuitry has led to a
focused research effort on the on-board power sources Energy recovery from wasted or unused power has been a
which can replace the batteries. The concern with batteries topic of discussion in recent times. Unused power exists in
has been that they must always be charged before use. various forms such as industrial machines, human activity,
Similarly, the sensors and data acquisition components in vehicles, structures and environment sources. Among these,
distributed networks require centralized energy sources for some of the promising sources for recovering energy are
their operation. In some applications such as sensors for periodic vibrations generated by rotating machinery or
structural health monitoring in remote locations, geograph- engines. Table 1 lists some of the energy sources available
ically inaccessible temperature or humidity sensors, the in the surrounding which are/can be tapped for generating
battery charging or replacement operations can be tedious electricity. Primarily, the selection of the energy harvester
and expensive. Logically, the emphasis in such cases has as compared to other alternatives such as battery depends
been on developing the on-site generators that can on two main factors cost effectiveness and reliability. In
transform any available form of energy at the location into recent years, several energy harvesting approaches have
electrical energy. Piezoelectric energy harvesting has been proposed using solar, thermoelectric, electromagnetic,
emerged as one of the prime methods for transforming piezoelectric, and capacitive schemes which can be simply
mechanical energy into electric energy. This review article classified in two categories (1) power harvesting for sensor
provides a comprehensive coverage of the recent develop- networks using MEMS/thin/thick film approach, and (2)
ments in the area of piezoelectric energy harvesting using power harvesting for electronic devices using bulk ap-
low profile transducers and provides the results for various proach. This review article covers the later category in
energy harvesting prototype devices. A brief discussion is detail using piezoelectric scheme citing examples from
also presented on the selection of the piezoelectric materials literature and authors own work. A brief discussion on the
for on and off resonance applications. Analytical models first category is provided in the last section of the article.
reported in literature to describe the efficiency and power Table 2 lists the daily average power consumption for a
magnitude of the energy harvesting process are analyzed. wearable device with three functions music player, personal
organizer, and GSM communication, for three user profiles:
Keywords Piezoelectric . Energy harvesting . Macro fiber intensive (24/24 h), typical (16/24 h and moderate use of
composite . PVDF . PZT . Transducer . Bimorph . Windmill the device), and low (8/24 h) [1]. The last row in the table
corresponds to the condition if Bluetooth instead of GSM
mobile phone is used for communications. It can be seen
from this table that a power of 50 mW is required to run the
S. Priya (*) three functions intensively. Table 3 provides the list of
Materials Science and Engineering, Automation and Robotics
power requirement for various household electronic devi-
Research Institute, The University of Texas,
Arlington, TX 76019, USA ces. The small portable FM radio or walkman requires a
e-mail: [email protected] small power level of 30 and 60 mW. These magnitudes of
166 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

Table 1 Sources of energy available in the surrounding which are/can be tapped for generating electricity.

Human body Vehicles Structures Industrial Environment

Breathing, blood pressure, Aircraft, UAV, Bridges, roads, tunnels, Motors, compressors, Wind, solar, temperature
exhalation, body heat helicopter, farm house structures chillers, pumps, fans gradient, daily
automobiles, trains temperature
Walking, arm motion, finger Tires, tracks, peddles, Control-switch, HVAC Conveyors, cutting and Ocean currents, acoustic
motion, jogging, swimming, brakes, shock systems, ducts, cleaners, dicing, vibrating waves, EM waves, RF
eating, talking absorbers, turbines etc. mach. signal

power are possible to be continuously harvested from practical method is to develop self-powered sensors by
human and industrial activity. harvesting energy from the wasted energy. Practically, on-
A large network with several sensor nodes and data site small scale successful harvesting of electrical energy
acquisition components requires a centralized energy source from the available energy source (as listed in Table 1) can
that has to be charged or replaced over time. In remote solve various challenges and enable new applications.
applications such as structural health monitoring of aircrafts Figure 1 compares the various alternatives for power
or ships, recharging, battery replacement or wiring can be sources. The comparison is made using the experimental
very tedious and expensive task. In many other cases, these values available in literature and the data measured in our
operations may be prohibited by the infrastructure. Further, laboratory [1–14]. The outside solar energy has the
in order for the sensor nodes to be conveniently placed and capability of providing power density of 15,000 μW/cm3
used they should be as small as possible which puts an which is about two orders of magnitudes higher than other
upper limit on their life time. If an electronic device with a sources. Definitely, solar energy is a very attractive source
1 cm3 of non-rechargeable lithium battery (at max energy for powering sensor networks and the solar technology has
density of 2,880 J/cm3 or 800 Wh/l) were to consume matured over the years. One of the major challenges in the
100 μW of power on average, the device would last implementation of solar technology on “energy on demand”
333 days. A lifetime of approximately 1 year is not platforms has been the requirement of bulky electronics.
practical. Even though the nodes in the wireless network Further, the variation in light intensity (cloudy vs. sunny
will be much smaller than the 1 cm3 area, the power day) can drop the efficiency significantly. Also, the solar
requirements will force them to use a battery of much larger power drops down significantly inside the building. The
size enhancing the system volume [2–8]. other most attractive source is kinetic energy comprising of
There are four possible ways to realize a distributed mechanical vibrations, air flow and human power. The
sensor network with adequate performance as following (1) kinetic energy can be converted into electric energy using
enhance the energy density of the storage systems (2) reduce piezoelectric, electromagnetic or electrostatic mechanism. It
the power consumption of the sensor, (3) develop self- can be easily shown that piezoelectric transducers are more
powered sensors by generating or harvesting energy or (4) suitable as kinetic to electrical energy converters. In
transmit the power from a centralized source to the sensor. addition to the advantage of being smaller and lighter the
Out of these various possible solutions the most efficient and piezoelectrics have three times higher energy density as

Table 2 The daily average power consumption for a wearable device with three functions.

Profile (24 h)

Function Low Typical Intensive

Shutdown 33.33% (8 h) 33.33% (8 h) 0% (0 h)

MP3 4.16% (1 h) 16.66% (4 h) 25% (6 h)
Organizer 2.08% (0.5 h) 4.16% (1 h) 8.33% (2 h)
Communications 2.08% (0.5 h) 4.16% (1 h) 25% (6 h)
Standby 58.33% (14 h) 41.66% (10 h) 41.66% (10 h)
Average Power 17.7 mW 37 mW 110 mW
Energy in a day 1529 J 3197 J 9507 J
Average Power Bluetooth Comm. 12.5 mW 26.5 mW 48.5 mW

Based on-Shutdown 100 μW; MP3 110 mW; Organizer 50 mW; Communication 300 mW; Standby 10 mW.
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 167

Table 3 Average power consumption of common household devices. generated is proportional to frequency and strain and higher
Product Average power consumption energy can be obtained by operating at the resonance.

Small portable FM radio 30 mW

Walkman (play mode) 60 mW 2 Analysis of vibration to electric conversion
TV remote 100 mW
Cell phone (talk/stand-by) 2 W/35 mW
Williams and Yates have proposed a generalized model for
Electric torch (flashlight) 4W
Video 8 (no LCD screen) 6W the conversion of the vibration energy into electrical energy
Laptop computer 10 W as shown in Fig. 4 [16]. The model assumes that the mass
TV (53/67/wide screen) 50/74/11 W of the vibration source is much greater than the seismic
mass in the generator, and that the vibration source is an
infinite source of power. The differential equation of
motion describing the system in terms of the housing
compared to their counterparts electrostatic and electro- vibration (y(t)=Yocoswt) and relative motion of mass (z(t))
magnetics. Figure 2 compares the magnitude of the energy is given as:
density for the three types of converters. In this figure, the





mzðt Þ þ dzðt Þ þ kzðt Þ ¼ myðt Þ ð1Þ
symbol e is the dielectric constant, E is the electric field, B is
the magnetization, X is the stress, d is the piezoelectric strain Where m is the seismic mass, d is the damping constant and
constant and g is the piezoelectric voltage constant [15]. k is the spring constant. The total power dissipated in the
The general principle for conversion of mechanical low damper under sinusoidal excitation was found to be given
frequency AC stress into electrical energy using a piezo- as [17]:
electric transducer is shown schematically in Fig. 3. This
3
transformation from mechanical to electrical energy is mBYo2 ωωn ω3
obtained through the direct piezoelectric effect and using P ð ωÞ ¼ 
2 2 h
i2 ð2Þ
a rectifier and DC–DC converter circuit the generated 1  ωωn þ 2B ωωn
electrical energy is stored. There are three primary steps in
power generation as outlined in this schematic: (a) trapping where, ω2n ¼ k=m is the system resonant frequency and B ¼
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
the mechanical AC stress from available source, (b) d=2 mk is the damping ratio. If the vibration spectrum is
converting the mechanical energy into electrical energy known beforehand than the device can be tuned to operate
with piezoelectric transducer and (c) processing and storing at the resonance frequency of the system, in which case the
the generated electrical energy. The mechanical output can maximum power that can be generated is given as:
be in the form of a burst or continuous signal depending on
mYo2 ω3n
the cyclic mechanical amplifier assembly. Depending on Pmax ¼ ð3Þ
4B
the frequency and amplitude of the mechanical stress one
can design the required transducer, its dimensions, vibration Equation 3 implies that the power is inversely proportional
mode and desired piezoelectric material. The energy to the damping ratio which should be minimized through

Fig. 1 Comparison of various potential power sources for the sensor networks [7, 14, 18, 26]
168 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

Fig. 2 Comparison of the ener-

gy density for the three types of
mechanical to electrical energy
converters

proper selection of the materials and design. The loss factor response of the electromechanical system it is easier to
(roughly equal to 2ς) for some commonly used structural perform the analysis using the equivalent circuit model.
materials are quite small, e.g., aluminum ∼0.007 and steel Table 5 lists the analogy between the mechanical and
∼0.05. In terms of the acceleration the above expression can electrical parameters that can be used to derive the
be written as: equivalent circuit for a given mechanical system [18]. The
dimension of mechanical impedance is same as that of
m! 2
Pmax ¼ ð4Þ mechanical resistance and is expressed in the same unit,
45n B N·s/m, often defined as mechanical ohms. Figure 6 shows
which implies that output power is proportional to the square the electrical equivalent circuit of the vibration source and
of the acceleration. Another important conclusion that can be elastic load. These equivalence relations can be used in
drawn from Eq. 4 is that output power is directly analyzing the performance of the system.
proportional to the proof mass of the system and thus In the off-resonance condition the modeling of the
reducing the size of the converter reduces the conversion generator can be significantly simplified as illustrated in
efficiency. Table 4 provides a list of acceleration and peak Fig. 7. Figure 7a shows the schematic of the piezoelectric
frequency values for the common vibration sources [7]. It bimorph transducer of height H, length L and width W
has been found that accelerations of 2.5 m/s2 at 120 Hz are subjected to the AC force F. The load dependence of the
typical of many low level vibrations. Figure 5 shows the bimorph in the frequency range far from the resonance can
example of a vibration spectrum from a car driven at be computed by using the equivalent circuit representation
65 mph and washing machine. In this figure the spectral shown in Fig. 7b. In this circuit the voltage source is taken
peaks at 1.2, 14 and 35 Hz correspond to fundamental to be the open circuit voltage across the bimorph. The
frequency, structural imbalance, and engine speed (http:// voltage across the load can than be expressed as [19]:
www.vibrationdata.com/).  
 
The power generated by the converter is measured across  RLoad 
VLoad ¼ VOC   ð5Þ
the electrical load. In order to analyze the frequency  RLoad þ jwC
1
þ Rs 

Fig. 3 Schematic representation

Mechanical Electrical
of the piezoelectric energy
harvesting

Storage Regulation Regulated

Power

PZT Rectifying Power Storage/

(coupled to structure) Bridge Regulation Electronics
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 169

following expression have for the off-resonance and

resonance conditions [7, 9]:

2
2k31 tc cp
1 k2 A2m e
P¼ h
i2 h
 i2
2R 5 2n 2 þ 2B 5 n  5 2
5 RCb 5 1
RCb þ 2B 5 n þ 5 2n 1 þ k31 RCb

ðoff  resonanceÞ
ð10Þ

2
2k31 tc c
m 2
p
RCb2
2
e Am k2
P¼  pffiffiffiffiffiffi ð11Þ
2k 4 B 2 þ k31
4 ðRC Þ2 k þ 4 B k 2 RC
b 31 b km þ 4 B m
2

Fig. 4 Schematic of the piezoelectric generator ðresonanceÞ


where Rs is the series resistance Rs ¼ 2pftan d
C and C is the
where cp is the elastic constant of the piezoelectric ceramic,
damped capacitance of the bimorph.The average power k31 is the piezoelectric coupling coefficient, tc is the
delivered to the load can than be found using the expression: thickness of one layer of the piezoelectric ceramic, k2 is a
geometric constant that relates average piezoelectric mate-
2
VLoad rial strain to the tip deflection, e is the dielectric constant of
P¼ ð6Þ
2RLoad piezoelectric material, R is the load resistance and Cb is the

The power reaches maximum at an optimum load Ropt Load
capacitance of the piezoelectric bimorph. This equation also
which for the equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 7b is given leads to the same conclusion as Eq. 2 that maximum power
as: is obtained by operating at the resonance frequency.
  The resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transducer
 1 
opt 
RLoad ¼ Rs þ ð7Þ is dependent upon the configuration, size, and loading
jwC  conditions. Figure 8 exemplifies the size dependence of the
resonance frequency for circular unimorphs (1 layer of
At resonance the piezoelectric generator is generally PZT) and bimorphs (2 layer of PZT) operating in radial
represented as an LCR circuit consisting of motional mode. The material variables in this figure are diameter of
elements (LA, CA, and R) in parallel to the damped the metal and PZT discs. The diameter of the PZT disc is
capacitance, Cd. The elements LA and CA represent the 2.5 mm smaller than the metal disc diameter. It is evident
piezoelectric response while RA represents the combined from this figure that the resonance frequency changes by
effect of resistances associated with the dielectric loss Rd one order of magnitude by increasing the disc diameters by
(damped) and the mechanical loss Rm (motional). The about four times for unimorphs. Another common method
reactive equivalent circuit components for a rectangular of lowering the resonance frequency is by adding more
plate operating in the 31 mode are given by the following piezoelectric layers to the piezoelectric transducer called as
expressions [20]: “multimorph.” In addition to lowering the resonance
  " E 2 # frequency of the structure multimorph transducer provides
σ lb s11
LA ¼ 2
ð8Þ
8 w d31
Table 4 Peak acceleration and frequency of common structures.

   2
 Vibration Source Peak acceleration Frequency of
8 lw d31 (m/s2) peak (Hz)
CA ¼ 2 ð9Þ
π b sE11
Base of a 5 HP 3-axis 10 70
where l is the length and w is the width of the rectangular machine tool
plate, s is the elastic compliance and d is the piezoelectric Notebook computer while 0.6 75
constant. A rigorous analysis for the piezoelectric bimorph CD is being read
loaded in cantilever form with the tip mass m has been Clothes dryer 3.5 120
Second story floor of a wood 0.2 100
conducted by Roundy et al.. They used the transformer
frame office building
based equivalent circuit for the analysis and arrived at the
170 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

Fig. 5 Power spectral density of the car (2003 Ford Taurus) driven on
highway at 65 mph. The data was recorded using Nicolet Vision
System. (Source: Website—http://www.vibrationdata.com. Permission
granted by T. Irvine to reproduce the figure). The spectral peak at
1.2 Hz is the fundamental frequency of the vehicle mass and
suspension system and is typical for passenger cars. Other peaks can
be associated to the tire imbalance, engine vibrations, and rotational
vibrations from drive train system, alternator, and air conditioning unit

higher charge output. For example—a rectangular bimorph Fig. 6 Electrical equivalence of the mechanical system for vibration
of the dimension 60×35×0.6 mm3 mounted in cantilever source and elastic load representing the relationship shown in Table 5
(adopted from: Permission granted by H. Kim to reproduce the
fashion and operating in bending mode has the resonance
figure). The unit of mechanical impedance is similar to resistance and
frequency of 65 Hz. By adding four additional layers to this is given as N s/m
bimorph the resonance frequency can be lowered to 45 Hz
[21]. An multimorph (more than six layers) of size 24×6× analysis revealed that large part of the impact energy was
0.3 mm3 can sense an acceleration frequency of as low as returned to the steel ball in the form of kinetic energy
0.5 Hz [22]. Results on accelerometer devices have shown causing it to bounce off the plate. In case the steel ball did
that by increasing the number of layers from six to 12 the not bounce off rather vibrated with the piezoelectric
charge output is increased by 30% [22]. diaphragm the efficiency of the system was computed to

a F
3 Energy conversion efficiency L

δl δz
The efficiency of the vibration to electric energy conversion
process is dependent upon the method of applying the
oscillating stress onto the piezoelectric and material
H
parameters. Umeda et al. have analyzed the electric energy
l
generation from the piezoelectric diaphragm structure
which is vibrated by dropping a steel ball (d31 mode) [23, b
24]. The impact of the steel ball induced vibration in the
piezoelectric diaphragm resulting in AC voltage. Their

Table 5 Analogy between the electrical and mechanical parameters.

Mechanical Parameter [unit] Electrical parameter

Force [N] Voltage [V]

Velocity [m/s] Current [A]
Mass [kg] Inductance [H] Fig. 7 Schematic of the model for the piezoelectric bimorph. a Strain
Compliance [m/N] Capacitance [F] in a bent rectangular section cantilever for width w and thickness H.
Damping [Ns/m] Resistance [Ω] b Equivalent circuit representation of the piezoelectric generator in
off-resonance condition
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 171

of the conversion process in this case was found to be given

by the relation [29]:

 

1 k2 1 1 k2
h¼ þ ð12Þ
2 1  k2 Qm 2 1  k 2
Based on this model it was found that by increasing the
effective mass by a factor of 2 leads to an 8% increase in
the efficiency while decreasing the damping by a factor of 2
results in a 17% increase in the efficiency. The coupling
factor is related to the equivalent circuit parameters and
hence the materials constants by the relation:

1
k 2 ¼ 1 þ Cd=CA ð13Þ

The mechanical quality factor Qm (=1/tanδm) is related to

the dielectric loss (tanδd) and other piezoelectric material
parameters by the following expression (assuming 31 mode
operation) [30]:
Fig. 8 Variation of the resonance frequency for the unimorph and 
1 tan δd πe 0 e T33 g31
2
bimorph as a function of the diameter Qm ¼ D ð14Þ
s11 þ πe 0 e T33 g31
2

where sD 11 is the elastic compliance under constant electric

field and g31 is the piezoelectric voltage constant. This
equation indicates that losses play an important role in
be 52%. Further, the study showed that the efficiency efficiency of the process since a significant increase in the
increased with the increase in mechanical quality factor dielectric loss will reduce Qm dramatically. Equations 12,
(Qm), coupling factor (k) and decrease in dielectric loss 13, 14 can be used in approximating the efficiency of the
factor (tanδd) [23, 25, 26]. generator. For example if an efficiency of 85% is desired
Goldfarb and Jones investigated the electric energy than there are several combinations of k2 and Qm possible
generation from stack actuators under the cyclic forced from Eq. 12 such as k2 =0.1 and Qm =100 [29]. These
condition (d33 mode) [27]. It was pointed out that the numbers can than be used to select the piezoelectric material
problem associated with the piezoelectric converters is the with relevant piezoelectric constants. The selection of the
fact that they store the large fraction of the energy produced device structure is dependent upon various factors such as
and return it to the excitation source. Thus, the efficiency of dimensions, fabrication technique, and cost effectiveness.
the system can be improved by minimizing the energy The choice of the material in the off-resonance condition
stored in the piezoelectric material. The maximum efficien- is dependent on the ability of the piezoelectric to convert
cy was found at the frequency of 5 Hz and the efficiency applied stress into dielectric charge effectively, which is
became negligible above 100 Hz which clearly indicates the related to the piezoelectric voltage constant (g).
frequency sensitive nature of stacks. Funasaka et al. have
made a comparison of the performance of LiNbO3 and PZT
cantilevers for the converter [28]. It was found that LiNbO3 4 Piezoelectric material selection in off-resonance
performed better than PZT due to higher coupling and condition
mechanical quality factor.
Recently a quantitative model for the energy conversion At low frequencies far from the resonance a piezoelectric
efficiency was developed which provides a method for plate can be assumed to behave like a parallel plate
evaluating the material and transducer design in the capacitor. Hence, electric energy available under ac stress
resonance condition [27]. The model assumes that a rigid excitation is given as [31, 32]:
mass is coupled to a stationary surface through a spring, 1
damper and piezoelectric element poled along the thickness U¼ CV 2 or energy per unit volume;
2
direction. An oscillating force is applied on the rigid mass
2 ð15Þ
which exerts the stress on the piezoelectric converting the 1 F
u ¼ ðd:gÞ

mechanical energy into electric energy. The efficiency (η) 2 A
172 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

1.195 polymer (d33 =33 pC/N, e 33 =e o ¼ 13, g33 =286.7, n=1.054)

0.5% Mn - Two Step [33], and relaxor piezoelectric single crystals such as PZN
1.190
0.7% Mn - Two Step
1.185 0.9% Mn - Two Step −7%PT (d33 =2,500 pC/N, e 33 =e o ¼ 6; 700, g33 =42.1, n=
0.5% Mn - One Step 1.190) [34]. Thus to obtain a large magnitude of the product
1.180 0.7% Mn - One Step
(d.g), the piezoelectric compositions can be tailored by
0.9% Mn - One Step
1.175 Projected Value modifying with the dopant or processing technique such that
1.170 the change in piezoelectric and dielectric constant leads to a
n

decrement in the magnitude of constant n.

1.165
We have optimized the magnitude of the (d.g) in the
1.160 system given as 0.9Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 −0.1Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)
1.155 O3 +0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 wt.% MnCO3. The ceramics were
0.9PZT(52:48) - 0.1PZN synthesized using the conventional mixed oxide sintering.
1.150
Two types of sintering profiles were used—one step
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
-3
(conventional, 1,050 °C for 2 h) and two step. In two step
g33 (10 V-m/N) sintering the samples were kept at 1,050 °C for 5 min and
Fig. 9 Variation of material constant, n, as a function of piezoelectric then temperature was dropped to 950 °C and held for 4 h. A
voltage coefficient, g33 for 0.9PZT (52: 48)−0.1 PZN + y wt.% MnCO3 heating rate of 3 °C/min and cooling rate of 7 °C/min was
used [32]. It has been shown that one step sintering is not
where d is the piezoelectric strain constant and g is the suitable for producing small grain sizes because the final
piezoelectric voltage constant. Equation 15 shows that for a stage of sintering process is always accompanied by rapid
given material of fixed area and thickness, a
material
 with grain growth [35]. The capillary driving force for sintering
high (d.g) product and high g constant ¼ e de 0 will and grain growth produces very large grain in one step
generate high voltage and power when the piezoelectric sintering. A simple two step sintering suppress the final
ceramic is directly employed for energy harvesting and stage grain growth and small grain sizes are achieved by
sensing. In general, the variation in the magnitude of controlling the kinetics of grain boundary diffusion and
piezoelectric stress constant and dielectric constant is grain boundary migration [35]. The logarithmic relationship
similar and they increase or decrease simultaneously upon between the constant n and g was found to be obeyed by all
modification with dopants or processing technique resulting the synthesized samples as shown in Fig. 9 [32]. Figure 10
in minor changes in the magnitude of g constant. compares the composition given by 0.9 Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 −
Recently, the condition for obtaining large magnitude of 0.1 Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 +0.7 wt.% MnCO3 denoted as UTA
d.g was derived to be as [31, 32]: (n=1.151) with the data available for the commercial
compositions.1 Assuming the magnitude of applied stress
jd j ¼ e n ð16Þ
equal to 1/6th of the compressive strength for the
where e is permittivity of the material and n is a material piezoelectric ceramic (∼100 MPa) than the energy density
constant having lower limit of 0.5. Using Eq. 14 the maximum computed using Eq. 15 for the composition UTA is found
magnitude of the product (d.g) can be shown to be given as: to be 80.84 mJ/cm3.
Maxðd:gÞ ¼ e 2n1 ð17Þ
It was found that for all practical polycrystalline piezo-
electric ceramic materials the magnitude of n lies in the 1
Data for commercial polycrystalline piezoelectric ceramic composi-
range of 1.1–1.30. For example—APC 841 (APC Interna- tions: EDO Corporation (EC-98: d33.g33 =11,388×10−15 m2/N, g33 =
tional, Mackeyville, PA) with d33 ¼ 300  1012 C=N and 15.6× 10−3 m2/C, and n=1.249); EDO Corporation (EC-65: d33.g33 =
9,500×10−15 m2/N, g33 =25×10−3 m2/C, and n=1.205); Fuji Ceramics
relative dielectric constant e 33 =e o ¼ 1; 350 represents the
Corporation (C-8 : d33.g33 =12,351×10−15 m2/N, g33 =19.7×10−3 m2/C,
conventional hard ceramic. Substituting these values in and n=1.225); Morgan Electroceramics (PZT-507 : d33.g33 =14,000×
Eq. 16 it can be shown that the magnitude of n is of the 10−15 m2/N, g33 =20×10−3 m2/C, and n=1.226); Morgan Electro-
order of ∼1.202. Similarly for a conventional soft ceramic ceramics (PZT 701 : d33.g33 =6,273×10−15 m2/N, g33 =41×10−3 m2/C,
and n=1.165); APC International (APC 855 : d33.g33 =12,600×
such as APC 856 with d33 ¼ 620  1012 C=N N and relative
10−15 m2/N, g33 =21×10−3 m2/C, and n=1.223); APC International
dielectric constant e 33 =e o ¼ 4; 100 the magnitude of n is of (APC 850 : d33.g33 =10,400×10−15 m2/N, g33 =26×10−3 m2/C, and n=
the order of ∼1.237. As the magnitude of n decreases towards 1.203); Channel Industries (5600 Navy: d33.g33 =11,110×10−15 m2/N,
unity a giant enhancement in the magnitude of g is obtained. g33 =22×10−3 m2/C, and n=1.217); Channel Industries (5400 Navy:
d33.g33 =7,830×10−15 m2/N, g33 =26.1×10−3 m2/C, and n=1.199);
This can be easily seen for the three extreme cases: quartz
Ferroperm (Pz24: d33.g33 =10,260×10−15 m2/N, g33 =54×10−3 m2/C,
single crystal (d33 =2.3 pC/N, e 33 =e o ¼ 5, g33 =51.9, n= and n=1.150); DongIl (D211: d33.g33 =8,820×10−15 m2/N, g33 =42×
1.124) (http://www.americanpiezo.com), PVDF piezoelectric 10−3 m2/C, and n=1.166).
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 173

18000 5 Piezoelectric material selection in on-resonance

UTA
condition

Morgan
15000

DongIl
Energy harvesting in the on-resonance condition is limited
m /N)

Ferroperm
due to limitation in terms of vibration amplitude at high
2

frequencies. The material requirements for the energy

-15

APC
12000
d33.g33 (10

Fuji
harvesting device operating under high frequency reso-

APC
EDO

nance condition are similar to that required for the

Channel

DongIl
piezoelectric transformer. A piezoelectric transformer con-

Ferroperm
EDO

9000 verts the electrical energy into mechanical energy at the input

Morgan
terminal and mechanical to electrical energy at the output
Channel

terminal. The three most critical parameters for the selection

6000 of the piezoelectric material operating under mechanical
10 20 30 40 50 60
-3 2
resonance are mechanical quality factor, electromechanical
g33 (x 10 Vm/N or m /C) coupling factor, and dielectric constant and a high magnitude
Fig. 10 Comparison of the magnitude of product (d33.g33) as a for all these parameters is desired. This is because of the fact
function of g33 for the material developed in this study with that in each electromechanical transformation, the energy of
commercially available ceramics. The material denoted as UTA
represents 0.9 Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 −0.1Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 +0.7 wt.%
the system reduces by a factor of k2, and a material with
Mn and has the properties d33.g33 = 16,168× 10−15 m2/N, g33 = higher capacitance will have lower impedance and hence it
55.56×10−3 m2/C, and n=1.151. The data for other compositions are can draw higher current. From materials point of view,
listed in [36] above requirements translate into designing a material,
which has combinatory characteristics of conventional hard

Fig. 11 List of the low profile

piezoelectric transducers. a b
a Thunder, b Active Fiber
Composite, c Macro Fiber THUNDER
Composite, d Radial Field
Diaphragm, e QuickPack, and
f Bimorp

THin layer UNimorph DrivER Active Fiber Composite

c d
MFC RFD

MacroFiber Composite Radial Field

Diaphragm
e f

QuickPack Bimorphs
174 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

per step as shown in Fig. 12. Another transducer has been

developed on the similar principle by Konkuk University
called as Lipca, where the metallic layers have been
substituted with fiberglass and unidirectional carbon.
Experimental results have demonstrated that Lipca provides
higher displacement than the Thunder however; the perfor-
mance is not as consistent [36]. Further, Lipca is lighter
than Thunder making it suitable for tapping vibrations.
Piezoelectric active fiber composites (AFC’s) developed
by Advanced Cerametrics, Inc (ACI) have been demonstrat-
ed in harvesting the electrical energy from the heel strike.3-
The transducer consists of uniaxially aligned piezoelectric
fibers surrounded by polymer matrix and can include inactive
Fig. 12 Integration of a flexible PZT Thunder clamshell and a 16-layer glass fibers for enhanced strength as shown in Fig. 11b.
polyvinylidine flouride bimorph stave under the insole of a running
shoe [12] (Source: http://www.media.mit.edu/resenv/power.html)
Interdigital electrodes are used to apply the electric along
the length of the fiber. The piezoelectric fibers are
synthesized using the technology called Viscose Suspension
and soft material. Generally, PZT is modified with a Spinning Process (VSSP) and are typically circular in cross-
complex A or B-site ion (Pb based relaxor type materials) section. Figure 13 shows the picture of the fabricated fiber
in various ratios and some acceptor ion is added to this and the sintered microstructure. The experiment consisted
composition. Adding the relaxor type compounds enhances of dropping the steel ball on multilayer composite and
the piezoelectric properties of the material while the measuring the output voltage. The ball weight was 33 g and
acceptor ion increases the mechanical quality factor and the drop distance was 10 cm [37]. Figure 14 illustrates the
reduces dielectric losses. effect of the transducer thickness on the output voltage for
various fiber diameters. The maximum voltage of 350 V
(DC) was found for the 5.85 mm thick transducer made
6 Energy harvesting using low profile piezoelectric using 15 μm diameter fiber. The peak power in this case
transducers was measured to be 120 mW for 0.3 ms [38].
Macro fiber composite (MFC), shown in Fig. 11c, was
Low profile transducers are attractive for piezoelectric developed at the NASA Langley Research Center also has
harvesting applications for several reasons including, light uniaxially aligned fibers surrounded by a polymer matrix
weight, flexibility, easy mounting, large response, and low similar to AFC’s, however the fibers have a rectangular
frequency operation (the terminology low-profile has been cross-section. MFCs are marketed by Smart Materials
used to describe the transducer structure which posses all Corporation, FL [39]. The fibers in MFCs are machined
these qualities). Figure 11 shows the list of the promising from low-cost piezoelectric ceramic wafers using a com-
low profile transducers in energy harvesting applications. puter controlled dicing saw. MFC’s can be operated in
All these transducers are commercial products and widely either d33-mode or d31-mode by designing the two different
available.2 Pre-stressed transducers such as Thunder consist electrode patterns as shown in Fig. 15. MFC operating in
of a sandwich structure where the bottom layer is stainless d33-mode has higher energy conversion rate but lower
steel, the middle layer PZT ceramic, and the top layer is electrical current as compared to that d31-mode as shown in
aluminum. LaRC™-SI is used as the adhesive between the Table 6 [40]. These transducers have been shown to have
layers. During the cooling of the whole structure from high the reliability of over 109 cycles operating at maximum
temperature (∼300 °C), the mismatch in coefficients of strain. The energy harvesting tests conducted on the two
thermal expansion causes the metal and ceramic layers to kinds of MFC’s has shown that:
contract at different rates, imparting a characteristic bend
(1) d33 effect MFC less suitable for energy harvesting due
and leaving the ceramic in pre-stress condition as shown in
to high voltage and lower charge output
Fig. 11a. Thunder elements have been used to harvest the
(2) Electric charge generated is proportional to strain
energy from the walking motion with a net transfer of 2 mJ
frequency, and
2
Thunder—Face International Corp., Norfolk, VA. ; AFC—Advanced
(3) Low strain, high frequency (>20 Hz) is suitable for
Cerametrics Inc., Lambertville, NJ; MFC—Smart Materials Corp., continuous charge generation
Sarasota, FL; RFD—NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA;
QuickPack—Mide Technology, Medford, MA; Bimorphs—APC
3
International, Mackeyville, PA. See footnote 2.
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 175

Fig. 13 Fiber produced by the

ACI. a Spools of fibers pro-
duced by the Viscose Suspen-
sion Spinning Process (VSSP),
b Sintered fibers, c Microstruc-
ture of the single fiber showing
circular cross-section, and
d grain structure exhibiting high
density (Source: Advanced
Cerametrics Inc. website, http://
www.advancedcerametrics.com/.
Permission granted by ACI to
reproduce the figure)

Smart Materials Corp. have recently revealed a micro- QuickPack (rigid) and PowerAct (flexible) transducer
energy harvester TI MSP430 μController based on MFC’s are packaged bimorphs in a protective skin with pre-
which is integrated with EnOcean STM100 and has the attached electrical leads, producing a highly reliable
ability to measure the local temperature, pressure and other component with no soldered wires (http://www.mide.com).
environmental variables [40]. The picture of the prototype These transducers have been demonstrated in energy
is shown in Fig. 16a. MicroStrain has also developed a harvesting applications by exciting them with a mechanical
wireless sensor node using the MFC’s as shown in Fig. 16b shaker at resonance frequency and measuring the response.
which has been demonstrated to operate with one of the QuickPack model QP20W having dimensions of 5.08×
highest efficiencies [41]. 3.81×0.051 cm3 with a nominal capacitance of 200 nF
NASA LaRC’s Radial Field Diaphragm (RFD) is an
exciting development in the area of low profile piezoelec-
tric transducers. The RFD comprises of a thin circular
piezoelectric ceramic disk sandwiched between two poly-
imide dielectric films with copper-etched spiral electrodes
as shown in Fig. 11d [42]. On each spiraled electrode
pattern, positive and negative electrodes spiral inward to the
center of the disk in a serpentine manner. This novel
electrode pattern induces an electric field into the piezo-
electric ceramic that extends out radially from the center of
the wafer. The dielectric film serves as the electrode carrier
and insulator. At low frequencies of DC—10 Hz, RFD’s
have been shown to provide 2–3 times higher displacement
Fig. 14 Variation of the output voltage as a function of the fiber
as compared to conventional unimorphs [42]. Experimental
composite thickness for various fiber diameters (Source: Advanced
demonstration of the RFD’s in the energy harvesting Cerametrics Inc. website, http://www.advancedcerametrics.com/. Per-
application has not yet been reported. mission granted by ACI to reproduce the figures)
176 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

Fig. 15 Illustration of the two

different types of MFCs (1) d33-
mode and (2) d31-mode.
(Source: Technical paper pre-
sented by Smart Material Corp.
at UTA Workshop 2006. Per-
mission granted by T. Daue
to reproduce the figure.)

driven at 50 Hz has been shown to provide 30.66 mW surface of the earth heats and cools unevenly, creating
power with the open circuit voltage of 68 V [15, 43]. atmospheric pressure zones that make air flow from high-
In general, piezoelectric bimorph transducer is the to low-pressure areas. Approximately 2% of the sun’s
simplest and well known low frequency resonance struc- energy reaching the earth is converted into wind energy.
ture. Bimorphs can be easily mounted into several config- For a flow of air with velocity ν and density ρ through unit
urations as shown in Fig. 17 providing high degree of area A perpendicular to the wind direction, the kinetic
adaptability to the available vibrations. Recently, we have energy per unit time is given by P (http://www.Windworkers.
demonstrated wind energy harvesting using the bimorph com; http://www.windturbinewarehouse.com; http://www.
transducer commercially available from APC International, windpowerstore.com) [44]:
Mackeyville, PA (http://www.americanpiezo.com). Bimorph
transducer has following advantages in terms of suitability P ¼ 1=2mv2 ¼ 1=2ðAvρÞv2 ¼ 1=2Aρv3 ð18Þ
for windmill:
The air density varies with altitude, atmospheric pressure
1. They have enough mechanical strength in the vibration and temperature. The power density function p(ν) of a
frequency range of 1–10 Hz. In this range the applied windmill may be expressed as (http://www.Windworkers.
load on the bimorph can be of the order of few com; http://www.windturbinewarehouse.com; http://www.
Newton’s. Laboratory scale measurements have shown windpowerstore.com):
that a bimorph vibrating under a force of 2 N at low
frequencies of 10 Hz do not suffer from any mechanical pðν Þ ¼ Cp 1=2Ar ρν 3 f ðν Þ and

 ð19Þ
degradation. k1 ðν= Þ
k

2. The piezoelectric voltage coefficient of bimorph is high f ðν Þ ¼ k=c ν=c e c

so the charge developed under fully loaded condition is
where Cp is the power coefficient of the windmill defined as
high.
the ratio of the power output from the windmill to energy
3. The maximum displacement of the bimorph is signif-
available in the wind, f(ν) is the wind speed probability
icant due to the high level of bending force that can be
density function, Ar is the rotor area, k is the shape
applied.
parameter and c is the scale parameter. The coefficient Cp
4. The manufacturing cost of bimorph is very low.
is limited to 0.59 by the Betz limit. Windmills are generally
designed such that maximum efficiency occurs at wind
Compared to mechanical vibrations from automobile, velocities around 8 m/s (or about 18 mph). Efficiency is
walking, rotary machines and water flow, wind is far more dependent on wind velocity, and average operating efficien-
attractive source of electrical energy. It is available cies are usually about 20%. At low air velocity, efficiency
everywhere making the technology to be implemental on can be lower than 20%. Wind power density is a term
a universal platform. The wind is a by-product of solar commonly used to describe the wind power available per
energy. As long as there is sunlight, there will be wind. The unit area swept by the blades. Roughly, wind power density

Table 6 Comparison of the sensor and actuator characteristics for the d33 and d31 mode MFCs (Permission granted by T. Daue, Smart Materials
Corp to reproduce the figure).

Device Operation voltage Capacity Sensor Characteristic Actuator characteristic Generator characteristic
þ  eff eff
Vop ½V  Vop ½V  Cpol [nF/cm2] d31 ½pC=N  d31 ½pC=N  Strain/Volt. [μstrain/V] Charge/Strain[pC/ppm]

3–3 MFC 1,500 −500 0,42 460 – 0,7..0,9[0 ... 1,500 V] 1,670 [>100 V]
3–1 MFC 360 −60 4,5 – −370 −2 [0 ... 360 V] 3,250 [<100 V]
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 177

oscilloscope using HP 10071A probe. A full-bridge rectifier

circuit using the low power diodes was fabricated and the
voltage was measured across a capacitor. Figure 19 shows
the power-speed relationship for the fabricated windmill.
The cut-in wind speed (threshold wind speed required to
start the windmill) was found to be 4.7 mph and cut-out
wind speed (maximum wind speed above which operating
could result in harm to the structure) was found to be
12 mph. The rated wind speed was found to be 10 mph
providing a constant power of 7.5 mW. The solid line
shown in this figure is just for the guide to the eyes [19].
Kim et al. have demonstrated the capability of harvesting
the electrical energy from mechanical vibrations in a
dynamic environment through a “Cymbal” piezoelectric
transducer [47, 48]. The mechanical vibrations were in the
range of 50∼150 Hz with force amplitude of the order of
10 N. The metal cap enhances the endurance of the ceramic
to sustain high loads along with stress amplification. The
experiments were performed at a frequency of 100 Hz on a
cymbal with a 29 mm diameter and a 1 mm thickness under
Fig. 16 Prototype devices developed using the MFC’s. a Wireless force of 7.8 N. At this frequency and force level, a power of
Temperature/Pressure sensor from Smart Materials Corp./EnOcean 39 mW was generated from the cymbal, which was
(Source: Technical paper presented by Smart Material Corp. at UTA
Workshop 2006. Permission granted by T. Daue to reproduce the
measured across a 400 kΩ resistor. This magnitude of
figure), and b Wireless sensor node from MicroStrain (Source: power from one cymbal is quite impressive however the
Technical paper presented by MicroStrain at UTA Workshop 2006 force and frequency level are also quite high.
Permission granted by S. Arms to reproduce the figure) In spite of these developments there are several
challenges remaining in the implementation of the low
profile piezoelectric energy harvesting system including (1)
=0.056 ν3 where ν is in miles per hour. It can be seen from power density (power per unit volume of total device
this expression that a large amount of power is available structure), (2) reliability (maximum number of cycles
even with nominal wind velocities and efficiencies of the before mechanical or electrical breakdown), and (3) cost-
10–20%. effectiveness (total dollar cost for fabrication and installa-
The structure and frame-work of the piezoelectric tion of the system). The major factor which hinders the
windmill is similar to that of conventional windmill except implementation of energy harvesting devices in practical
it has active piezoelectric blades [45, 46]. As the wind applications is higher cost as compared to that of batteries.
flows through the windmill the active blades oscillate in As the research in this area continues it will be important to
turn producing electricity. Figure 18 shows the schematic of realize scenarios where the high cost of energy harvesting
the piezoelectric windmill which consist of 10 bimorph devices could be overlooked.
transducers arranged along the circumference. The dimen-
sions of each individual bimorph were 60×20×0.6 mm3
with a free length of 53 mm [45]. The resonance frequency
and capacitance for this size of bimorph was measured to
be 65 Hz and 170 nF, respectively. The arrangement of the
transducers is made such that corresponding to wind flow
the piezoelectric transducer oscillates between the stoppers.
The oscillatory motion is generated using the cam-shaft
gear mechanism. The continuous back and forth oscillation
of bimorph between the two stoppers will continuously
generate electricity. The characterization of the windmill
was done inside a long square tube. Wind was blown in the
tube using a fan. Wind speed was measured using EA-
3010U anemometer fitted at the top of the mill. The voltage Fig. 17 Schematic representation of the various ways of loading the
was monitored on the HP 54601A digital 4-channel bimorph transducers
178 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

Fig. 18 Schematic diagram

of the piezoelectric windmill
showing the arrangement of
piezoelectric actuators

7 Energy harvesting using piezoelectric polymers temperature operations [50–54]. Our investigations have
shown that the piezoelectric properties maintain high
Researchers from Ocean Power Technologies have pro- magnitude until 70 °C. Deposition of PVDF films is now
posed energy harvesting Eel that uses piezoelectric polymer a well established technique [51, 54]. In the sol-gel process,
to convert the mechanical flow energy available in oceans PVDF powder is dissolved in a solvent composed of 90%
and rivers to electrical power [49]. In a nonturbulent flow, acetone and 10% dimethylformamide (DMF) and sonicated
the bluff body regularly sheds alternating vortices on either in an ultrasonic water bath. The solution is applied on the
side of the bluff body with a frequency and size substrate through spin coating at room temperature, fol-
corresponding to the flow speed and width of the bluff lowed by drying at room temperature or in an oven.
body. The resulting pressure differential caused by the Sohn et al. have investigated the feasibility of using
vortices forces the Eel to move in an oscillating motion. PVDF films of thickness 9–110 μm for powering the Bio-
The resulting strain on the piezoelectric polymer generates MEMS using the FE analysis package MSC/NASTRAN
a low frequency ac voltage signal. The electrical power, P,
produced by an Eel undulating in water flow is given by [49]:

h1 h2 h3 ArV 3
P¼ ð20Þ
2

where η1, η2, η3 are hydrodynamic, piezoelectric and circuit

efficiencies, A is the cross-sectional area of the Eel, ρ is the
density of the water, and V is the velocity of the water flow.
Initially, PVDF was chosen as the piezoelectric material.
PVDF is a semi-crystalline high-molecular weight poly-
mer with repeat unit (CH2–CF2) whose structure is essen-
tially head-to-tail, i.e., CH2–CF2–(CH2–CF2)n–CH2–CF2.
PVDF is approximately half crystalline and half amorphous.
In semicrystalline polymers such as PVDF, there are regions
where the chains exhibit a short and long term ordering
(crystalline regions). A net dipole moment (polar phase) is
obtained by applying a strong electric field at or above Tg
Fig. 19 Power-Speed relationship for the fabricated piezoelectric
and then is frozen in by cooling the material resulting in a windmill. The typical parameters of the windmill were found to be
piezoelectric-like effect. The curie temperature of PVDF is cut-in speed=4.7 mph, cut-out speed=12 mph, rated wind speed=
near 110 °C which makes it useful for some elevated 10 mph and rated power=7.5 mW
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 179

optimal duty cycle of the converter is dependent on

inductance, switching frequency, the piezoelectric element’s
capacitance, and the frequency of mechanical excitation of
the piezoelectric device. Figure 21 compares the load line
with and without the DC–DC converter [47]. It can be
easily seen from this figure that the converter significantly
Fig. 20 Switch implementation in the direct down (or buck) converter
reduces the matching impedance of the circuit and provides
with load. a constant load line. The optimal duty cycle of the converter
is given as [15]:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
[55]. The results showed that square (cross-section—10× 4wLCp fs
10 mm2, thickness=28 μm) and circular (radius=5.62 mm, Dopt ¼ ð21Þ
p
thickness=28 μm) piezo-films when stressed under pres-
sure of 5,333 N/m2 (or 5.333 mN/mm2) at 1 Hz frequency where ω is the angular frequency of mechanical excitation,
produce electrical power levels of 0.25 and 0.33 μW, L is the inductance, Cp is the damped capacitance of
respectively. This result showed the possibility of utilizing piezoelectric element, and fs is the switching frequency.
the piezo-films for powering the DNA telecommunications
chip implanted in the human body which requires total
power of 10 mW [55–57]. Based on the normal blood flow
50
conditions it was found that a time period of 8–10 h will be
180
required for one complete operation.
PVDF has the advantage that it is mechanically strong, is 40
150
resistant to wide variety of chemicals, including acids and it
can be manufactured on a continuous reel basis. However, 120

Voltage [VDC]
Power [mW]

30
PVDF has a relatively low value of d31 (3.3×10−11 pC/N)
90
resulting in lower power. This prompted research on 20
electrostrictive polymers where it is possible to induce 60
large piezoelectric effect by applying high DC bias field
10 30
due to Maxwell stress. Electrostrictive polymers recently
have been discovered that generate large strain (above 5%)
0
under moderate electric field intensity (400–800 V on a 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
20 μm film) [58]. Poyl(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene),
or P[VDF:TrFe] copolymers have been shown to exhibit d31 Resistive Load [kΩ]
of 8.0×10−11 pC/N, and polyurethane has d31 of 1.7× a Without DC-DC converter
10−10 pC/N. A theoretical investigation conducted by Liu et
al. has shown that the energy densities of the order of 40 40

0.221 J/cm3 is possible in the constant field condition using

polyurethane material [59]. In future it is expected that the
Output Voltage [VDC ]
30 30
Output Power [mW]

piezoelectric and electrostrictive polymers will assume

significant importance owing to their flexible nature which
20 20
allows integration with almost any structure.

10 10
8 Energy storage circuit

0 0
In the bulk harvester cases, a DC-to-DC converter circuit is
commonly used to harvest the generated electric energy and
0 10 20 30 40 50
transfer it across the load as schematically shown in Fig. 20
Resistive Load [kΩ]
[15, 43, 47, 48]. The impedance for applications such as
charging a battery and lighting a bulb is in the order of few b Output of DC-DC converter
Fig. 21 Output voltage and output power of the DC–DC converter as
hundred ohms while the piezoelectric is a high impedance
a function of resistive load condition with 1 kHz switching frequency
load. This converter circuit is called a buck converter and it and 2% duty cycle using single layered high-g PZT Cymbal
operates in the discontinuous current mode (DCM). The transducer at 8 N
180 J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182

Several other techniques are used in conjunction with the integrated on the chip, and (2) LDR can only perform
circuit for reducing the matching impedance to lower levels step-down operation. Since the input voltage of the dc–dc
such as multilayering the piezoelectric transducer structure converter can be as low as 0.1 V, LDR is not suitable [62].
and increasing the area aspect ratio (area/thickness). Amirtharajah and Chandrakasan have reported a test chip
Recently, Guyomar et al. have presented a nonlinear fabricated using CMOS process that integrates an ultra-low
processing technique “Synchronized Switch Harvesting on power controller to regulate the generator voltage and a low
Inductor” (SSHI) for harvesting energy, which consists of a power subband filter DSP load circuit [63]. The entire
switching device in parallel with piezoelectric element [60]. system was found to consume a total of 18 μW power.
This device is composed of a switch and an inductor Several other methodologies have been proposed in
connected in series. The switch is in open state except when literature power conditioning of piezoelectric micro devices
the maximum displacement occurs in the transducer. At that [64–69]. These results clearly indicate the possibility of
instant the switch is closed and the capacitance of the realizing an efficient power harvesting system based on the
piezoelectric element and inductance together constitute an architecture depicted in Fig. 22. One other challenge which
oscillator. The switch is kept closed until the voltage on the needs to be tackled in order to implement this scheme for
piezoelectric element has been reversed. In case of powering sensors is design and fabrication of an ASIC
nonlinear AC device, a resistive load is directly related on since outputs from individual layers have widely different
the piezoelectric element in parallel with the switching impedance.
device. This nonlinear technique has been shown to In this review, a brief description is presented on the
significantly enhance the performance of the energy middle layer consisting of piezoelectric cantilevers. Lu et al.
harvesting circuit and will be well suited for the resonating have analyzed the case of ‘31’ mode piezoelectric micro-
structures [60]. cantilever structure and developed a model for power and
coupling efficiency (kinetic to electric energy conversion) as
a function of frequency [70]. It was found that power
9 Energy harvesting using piezoelectric micro devices increases with frequency while the coupling efficiency
decreases. The modeling results also indicated that at low
Self-powering at chip scale can be achieved by developing frequencies the output power requires smaller dielectric
a smart architecture which utilizes all the environmental constant (e33) while at higher frequencies it’s the ratio of
resources available for generating electrical power as shown piezoelectric constant (e31) and dielectric constant that
in Fig. 22 for vibrations, light, and temperature gradients. makes significant contribution. The power generated from
This architecture has been proposed and analyzed by Priya the cantilever beam depends on several factors including
et al. for the self powered ultra high efficiency sensor resonant frequency, end mass, and mechanical damping.
network with static and mobile nodes [61]. The power The resonant frequency of the free-end beam is approxi-
harvested can be stored using switched-capacitor dc–dc mately given by:
converter (regulated charge pump) through on-chip chem- rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffirffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ical storage media. Regulated charge pump is preferred k Eh3 w
fo ¼ ¼ ð22Þ
over the switched-mode power converter (SMPC) and low- m 4L3 m
dropout regulator (LDR) because (1) SMPC requires where k is the mechanical spring constant, m is the mass, E
inductor for dc–dc conversion; however the inductor to is the Young’s modulus, h is the height of the beam, w is
sustain milliampere current is complicated for being the width of the beam, and L is the length of the beam. The
viscous damping constant for squeeze-film damping of a
plate can be approximated by [7]:
KA2 η
B ¼ ð23Þ
x3
where ζ is the damping constant, K is a constant of the
order of 0.4–0.5, A is the area of beam, η is the viscosity,
and x is the gap between the beam and substrate. From
Eqs. 22 to 23 it can be seen that a large mass and gap (x) is
desirable for obtaining high power.
Fang et al. have reported results on the PZT cantilever
Fig. 22 Schematic representation of the power module harvesting
beam of the size 2,000 μm (length)×500 μm (width)×
energy from environmental sources light, vibrations and temperature 12 μm (thickness) with Ni proof mass of size 500×
gradients 500 μm2 fabricated on to Si/SiO2/Ti/Pt substrate [71]. A
J Electroceram (2007) 19:165–182 181

power level of 1.15 μW with 432 mV AC voltage was the characterization methods so that a comparative study
measured across a 20.4 kΩ load under resonant vibration of between the systems could be realized.
about 609 Hz with 1 g acceleration. This is an interesting
result since the power magnitude can be enhanced by Acknowledgement The author is grateful for the support from
arraying the cantilevers in parallel with in-phase operation. Texas ARP grant 003656-0010-2006.
Jeon et al. developed a d33-mode piezoelectric power
generating device consisting of flat cantilever structure
with interdigitated electrode pattern and a proof mass at the References
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