Nanomaterials and nanodevices for vibrational energy harvesting

Vibrational energy is ubiquitous in the ambient environment, and it is present in industrial machinery, transportation systems, civil infrastructure, human motion, and biological processes. Harvesting this abundant yet often wasted mechanical energy offers a compelling pathway for powering distributed electronics, wireless sensor networks, and the expanding Internet of Things (IoT), using methods such as electromagnetic generators (EMG), triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG), piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENG), and hybrid approaches. Recently, major advances at the nanoscale have been seen in these areas: novel nanostructured and nanocomposite materials, nanogenerator architectures, MEMS/NEMS-based devices, and nonlinear or broadband harvesting strategies that exploit nanoscale material properties for improved efficiency.

This thematic issue provides a forum for research on vibrational energy harvesting with a focus on nanoscale materials and devices, welcoming original research, perspective, letters and review articles that advance fundamental understanding, nanomaterial innovation, device engineering, and system integration for real-world deployment.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Nanogenerators and nanomaterials: Piezoelectric (PENG), triboelectric (TENG), and hybrid nanogenerator architectures, built from 2D materials, perovskites, polymer nanocomposites, MOFs, nanostructured ceramics, magnetostrictive/magnetoelastic thin films, and bio-derived nanomaterials
• Nanostructured and MEMS/NEMS devices: Nano-fabricated electromagnetic/electrostatic harvesters, nanostructured electrodes, and micro/nano-electromechanical systems for vibration-to-electricity conversion
• Nanoscale dynamics and power management: Nanostructured bistable/multistable systems, nanomaterial-enabled frequency up-conversion and resonance tuning, and nanostructured interfaces for rectification and charge extraction
• Storage integration and self-powered sensing: Coupling nanogenerators with nanostructured supercapacitors/microbatteries; nanomaterial-based self-powered sensors for structural health monitoring, industrial IoT, and wearable/implantable applications
• Modelling, reliability, and scalability: Atomistic/molecular dynamics simulations, machine-learning-assisted nanomaterial design, and degradation/durability of nanostructured harvesters under real-world conditions
• AI-enabled and intelligent vibrational energy harvesting: machine-learning-assisted materials and device design, vibration-source recognition, real-time adaptive tuning, intelligent power management, digital twins, performance and lifetime prediction, and energy-aware edge AI.
• Energy-autonomous system integration: co-design and integration of vibrational energy harvesters, power management circuits, energy storage, sensors, computation, and wireless communication for long-term battery-free or battery-assisted operation.

Submission deadline: February 1, 2027