Professor Jae Su Yu and his research team at the Department of Electronic Engineering have made significant advancements in energy harvesting

The research team has developed high-performance hybrid mechanical energy harvesters (HMEHs) by enhancing piezoelectric and triboelectric polymers with newly developed high-dielectric fillers. This innovation significantly energy harvesting efficiency. The team also effectively implemented integrated energy storage circuits, intruder detection platforms, and self-powered stair-sensing sensors with emergency email alert systems. These studies have been published in Advanced Functional Materials (IF: 19). Doctoral student Anand Kurakula and MD-PhD student Punnarao Manchi were the first authors on the respective papers.

Developing a Power Source for Wearable Electronics to Replace Batteries
As wearable electronic devices rapidly evolve, the need for efficient power sources to supply them becomes increasingly important. Currently, batteries power these devices, but they come with limitations such as high cost, low flexibility, and sustainability issues. Therefore, there is a growing demand for alternative power sources.

Professor Yu’s team has developed a hybrid energy harvesting device that combines piezoelectric and triboelectric effects as an alternative power source. “Our technology is simple and cost-effective, adding to its practical value,” explained Professor Yu.

The team also integrated the hybrid harvester with an energy storage circuit to generate stable direct current (DC) power. This system not only harvests energy but can also function as a sensor. Quick response time is crucial for sensor applications, and this sensor demonstrated sufficiently fast response times.

“We set a milestone in energy harvesting and sensing platform technologies.”
The researchers developed an intruder detection platform module to demonstrate the sensor’s applications. The energy generated by the hybrid harvester while a person walks up or down the stairs can be simultaneously stored in an energy storage device. This technology can be applied in stair-sensing systems to detect human presence, turn on stair lights, or send emergency alerts via email through Wi-Fi in case of urgent situations.

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education. The research team focuses on improving the output performance of hybrid energy harvesters, enhancing environmental friendliness, supporting energy crisis solutions, and developing practical power management and real-time sensing platforms for everyday applications. “Our research sets a significant milestone in energy harvesting and sensing platform technologies. We will continue to work towards developing multifunctional, high-efficiency wearable hybrid energy harvesters to power diverse portable electronic devices,” Professor Yu concluded.