Piezoelectric vibration energy harvester: Operating mode, excitation type and dynamics

Abstract

Nowadays, with the rapid development of the intelligent era and the concept of Internet of Things being proposed, more and more sensors will play a more important role. Providing a sustainable power source for sensors has become the focus of current research in microsystem power generation. The harvesting of widely available vibrational energy from the environment for use as an alternative power source for sensors is of great significance in efficient energy utilization. Researchers have been working on developing efficient energy harvesters for broadband and efficient energy harvesting. Nonlinear energy harvesting holds more significant promise. In this paper, we summarized and reviewed the research progress of three different harvesting methods from the perspective of varying energy harvesting methods. We also listed the operation of various harvesters under different excitation types. At the same time, nonlinear energy harvesters with different structural characteristics are reviewed, the benefits of nonlinearity on energy harvesting are effectively collected, and the practical applications are summarized. Finally, current methods and mechanisms to improve the collection efficiency of energy harvesters are described and summarized. Briefly, this review introduces the research development of existing energy harvesting technologies, summarizes the technically difficult problems faced by piezoelectric energy harvesting technologies, and provides an outlook for future research and development trends of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technologies.