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Novel Smart Materials and Structures for Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Sensing

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D1: Advanced Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 6058

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 27 King's College Cir, Toronto, ON M5S, Canada
Interests: energy harvesting; self-powered sensing, nonlinear vibration; smart materials and structures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Smart materials and structures are emerging class of designs for the development and application of novel forms of transduction that possess unique properties including the ability to respond to different mechanical, electrical, and thermal stimuli, in a prescribed fashion. Smart materials and structures are highly potent for the development of energy harvesting devises for low-powered electronics and self-powered sensors. Examples of these materials and structures include piezoelectric, electromagnetic, thermoelectric, and triboelectric systems. This special issue is aimed to address the original experimental and theoretical researches on all aspects of smart materials and structures for the design and development of novel energy harvesting devises and self-powered sensors. The topics covered in this special issue include but not limited to the following:

  • Novel energy harvesters and self-powered sensors based on different technologies such as electromagnetic, piezoelectric, triboelectric, and so on;
  • Hybridization of different energy harvesting technologies for effective performance of harvesters and sensors;
  • Advanced and smart materials for performance enhancement of energy harvesters and self-powered sensors;
  • Advanced structural designs for performance enhancement of energy harvesters and self-powered sensors;
  • Advanced circuit designs for optimal performance of the energy harvesting and energy storage units in a self-powered system.

Dr. Zia Saadatnia
Guest Editor

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. Energies 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.

Keywords

  • electromagnetic
  • piezoelectric
  • triboelectric
  • thermoelectric
  • energy harvesting
  • self-powered sensing
  • smart materials
  • advanced structures

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 378 KiB  
Article
Free Vibrations of Flexoelectric FGM Conical Nanoshells with Piezoelectric Layers: Modeling and Analysis
by Siros Khorshidi, Samad Chakouvari, Hassan Askari and Livija Cveticanin
Energies 2022, 15(9), 2973; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15092973 - 19 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1606
Abstract
Flexoelectric and piezoelectric effects have attracted the attention of researchers, owing to their applications in sensing systems and actuators. In this paper, the vibration of functionally graded material (FGM) conical nanoshell is studied, taking into account both piezoelectricity and flexoelectricity. The nanoshell has [...] Read more.
Flexoelectric and piezoelectric effects have attracted the attention of researchers, owing to their applications in sensing systems and actuators. In this paper, the vibration of functionally graded material (FGM) conical nanoshell is studied, taking into account both piezoelectricity and flexoelectricity. The nanoshell has a sandwich-type structure with a FGM core and two layers of piezoelectric materials on its top and bottom. With the combination of the first order shear deformation and Eringen’s nonlocal theories, the vibration equation of the nanoshell is developed. In order to study the governing equations and the frequency of vibrations of nanoshell, the generalized differential quadrature method is implemented. Based on the developed numerical solution procedure, the effect of different parameters, such as flexoelectricity, piezoelectricity, nonlocal term and Pasternak foundation, are shown on the vibrations of conical nanoshell. The presented analysis provides a better insight into the behavior of conical nanoshells, which are highly applicable in bio-sensing and optical devices. Full article
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15 pages, 3381 KiB  
Article
Nonlinear Vibration Analysis of Curved Piezoelectric-Layered Nanotube Resonator
by Zia Saadatnia
Energies 2021, 14(23), 8031; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14238031 - 1 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1263
Abstract
Piezoelectric-based nano resonators are smart structures that can be used for mechanical sensors and actuators in miniature systems. In this study, the nonlinear vibration behavior of a curved piezoelectric-layered nanotube resonator was investigated. The curved structure comprises a core nanotube and a slender [...] Read more.
Piezoelectric-based nano resonators are smart structures that can be used for mechanical sensors and actuators in miniature systems. In this study, the nonlinear vibration behavior of a curved piezoelectric-layered nanotube resonator was investigated. The curved structure comprises a core nanotube and a slender layer of piezoelectric material covering the inner nanotube where a harmonic voltage is applied to the piezoelectric layer. Applying the energy method and Hamiltonian principle in association with non-local theories, the governing equations of motion of the targeted system are obtained. Then, the problem is solved using the Galerkin and multiple scales methods, and the system responses under external excitation and parametric load are found. Various resonance conditions are investigated including primary and parametric resonances, and the frequency responses are obtained considering steady state motions. The effects of different parameters such as applied voltage, piezoelectric thickness, and structural curvature on the system responses are investigated. It is shown that the applied harmonic voltage to the piezoelectric layer can cause a parametric resonance in the structural vibration, and the applied harmonic point load to the structure can cause a primary resonance in the vibration response. Considering two structural curvatures including quadratic and cubic curves, it is also found that the waviness and curve shape parameters can tune the nonlinear hardening and softening behaviors of the system and at specific curve shapes, the vibration response of the targeted structure acts similar to that of a linear system. This study can be targeted toward the design of curved piezoelectric nano-resonators in small-scale sensing and actuation systems. Full article
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13 pages, 3141 KiB  
Communication
Design Study on Customised Piezoelectric Elements for Energy Harvesting in Total Hip Replacements
by Hans-E. Lange, Rainer Bader and Daniel Kluess
Energies 2021, 14(12), 3480; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123480 - 11 Jun 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2419
Abstract
Energy harvesting is a promising approach to power novel instrumented implants that have passive sensory functions or actuators for therapeutic measures. We recently proposed a new piezoelectric concept for energy harvesting in total hip replacements. The mechanical implant safety and the feasibility of [...] Read more.
Energy harvesting is a promising approach to power novel instrumented implants that have passive sensory functions or actuators for therapeutic measures. We recently proposed a new piezoelectric concept for energy harvesting in total hip replacements. The mechanical implant safety and the feasibility of power generation were numerically demonstrated. However, the power output for the chosen piezoelectric element was low. Therefore, we investigated in the present study different geometry variants for an increased power output for in vivo applications. Using the same finite element model, we focused on new, customised piezoelectric element geometries to optimally exploit the available space for integration of the energy harvesting system, while maintaining the mechanical safety of the implant. The result of our iterative design study was an increased power output from 29.8 to 729.9 µW. This amount is sufficient for low-power electronics. Full article
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