Electrostatic Induction Nanogenerator Boosted by One-Dimensional Metastructure: Application to Energy and Information...

The recent application of the internet of things demands the ubiquitous utilization of data and electrical power. Even with the development of a wide variety of energy-harvesting technologies, few studies have reported a device transporting electrical energy and data simultaneously. This paper reports an electrostatic induction nanogenerator (ESING) consisting of a one-dimensional metastructure that can modulate the output voltage based on the resonance of ultrasound waves to transmit energy and data simultaneously. The ESING device is fabricated using electronegative poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane using a phase inversion process. The output voltage from the ESING device exhibits periodic resonant peaks as the gap between the PVDF membrane and the Al electrode changes, showing an up to 35-fold difference between the maximum and minimum output voltages depending on the resonance state. The energy and electrical signal can be transmitted simultaneously in free space because the ESING converts energy from high-frequency ultrasound waves. This paper provides proof of concept for a data and energy-transferable smart tag device based on ESING devices exhibiting resonant and non-resonant states. A device consisting of four ESINGs for a 4-bit signal is implemented to demonstrate 16 signals.