Today, we're surrounded by a variety of electronic devices that are moving increasingly closer to us -- we can attach and wear them, or even implant electronics inside our bodies.
Many types of smart devices are readily available and convenient to use. The goal now is to make wearable electronics that are flexible, sustainable and powered by ambient renewable energy.
This last goal inspired a group of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) researchers to explore how the attractive physical features of zinc oxide (ZnO) materials could be more effectively used to tap into abundant mechanical energy sources to power micro devices. They discovered that inserting aluminum nitride insulating layers into ZnO-based energy harvesting devices led to a significant improvement of the devices' performance. The researchers report their findings in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing.
"Mechanical energy exists everywhere, all the time, and in a variety of forms -- including movement, sound and vibration. The conversion from mechanical energy to electrical energy is a reliable approach to obtain electricity for powering the sustainable, wireless and flexible devices -- free of environmental limitations," explained Giwan Yoon, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at KAIST.
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