Piezoelectric MEMS vibrational energy harvesters: Advances and outlook

Piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesters based on thin films are compact and cost-effective microgenerators for scavenging environmental vibrations. This technology is promising for the replacement of electrochemical batteries in low power autonomous sensors and microdevices capturing vibrations in the μW-mW range. Most of piezoelectric MEMS devices, reported in the last few years, exhibit low generated power/voltage and are not suitable for practical applications. This work reviews the current status of MEMS energy harvesters based on piezoelectric thin films, highlighting approaches/strategies to face the two main challenges to be addressed for high performance devices, namely generated power and frequency bandwidth. The paper introduces the theoretical principles and the main figures of merit of energy conversion in piezoelectric thin films and devices. After an overview on piezoelectric thin films for energy harvesting applications, highlighting their key properties, the manuscript reports a comprehensive survey on the state of the art for this device technology. The last section summarizes the review, highlighting key issues to be addressed and providing an insight into the future outlook to realize devices for practical applications. [Display omitted] •The current status of MEMS vibrational piezoelectric energy harvesters is reviewed.•The work reports a comprehensive survey on this state of the art device technology.•An overview on piezoelectric films for energy harvesting applications is provided.•Approaches/strategies to improve device performances are highlighted.