Nanoscale MINIREVIEW Cite this: Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 23929 Received 3rd September 2020, Accepted 9th November 2020 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr06373h rsc.li/nanoscale Overview of micro/nano-wind energy harvesters and sensors Xianpeng Fu, a,b Tianzhao Bu, a,b Chenglin Li, a,c Guoxu Liu a,b and Chi Zhang * a,b,d Wind energy is a kind of renewable and widely distributed energyand has attracted more and more atten- tion from researchers in both energy harvesting and sensing fields. Here, micro/nano-wind energy har- vesters and sensors have been systematically reviewed. Based on the fundamental wind energy harvesting principle, the windmill-based and aeroelastic harvesters are analyzed at first. On this basis, four kinds of energy harvesters for converting wind energy of different regions and scales have been compared and summarized. An electromagnetic energy harvester is exploited to scavenge macro-scale wind energy, while piezoelectric, electrostatic and triboelectric energy harvesters are applied to collect micro-scale wind energy. In addition, several micro/nano-wind sensors have also been surveyed. Passive wind sensors are exploited and improved to realize high precision and multi-functionality, while active wind sensors and self-powered sensing systems are used for wireless and intelligent wind information monitoring. Finally, the existing challenges and future perspectives in both micro/nano-wind energy harvesters and sensors have been discussed. 1. Introduction With excessive consumption of fossil energy, energy crisis and climate change have been gradually destroying the human living environment and social economic system over the past decades. 1–6 To meet the increasing energy consumption, the development of renewable, environment-friendly energy technology is highly desired. 7–12 Wind as a kind of renewable and widely distributed energy has attracted more and more attention and played a significant role in electric supply. 13–16 According to statistics, the total reserves of global wind energy are abundant, in which the exploitable part is up to 5.3 × 10 13 kW h per year. 17 The installed capacity of the global wind gen- erator reached 651 GW by the end of 2019. 18 On this basis, many kinds of wind energy harvesters 19–22 and sensors 23–25 have been reported. In traditional ways, the Faraday law of electromagnetic induction is the main working principle for these devices, which have high cost of installation, mechanical wear, and extra-large size. These drawbacks greatly limit the related application areas of wind-based functional devices. 26,27 Thus, it is significant to exploit novel technologies for harvest- ing and sensing wind energy for extended applications. Meanwhile, with the development of information techno- logy, electronics is expected to be miniaturized, multi- functional and intelligent. 28–31 The application of new materials and micro/nano-manufacturing technologies has greatly enriched the strategy of wind energy harvesting and sensing. 32–34 Over the past few years, many kinds of micro/ nano-wind energy harvesters and sensors with different struc- tures and mechanisms have been reported in different fields and scales. 35,36 Except electromagnetic generators, 37 nano- generators based on the effects of piezoelectric, 38,39 electrostatic, 40,41 triboelectric 42,43 and so on have been exploited to convert micro-scale wind energy with low speed. Moreover, various integrated and intelligent wind sensors based on micro/nano-technology have been exploited to monitor wind velocity and direction with high precision, which are also multi-functional and self-powered. 44,45 The development of micro/nano-wind energy harvesters and sensors is an important exploration of renewable energy utiliz- ation and self-powered sensing. Here, the micro/nano-wind energy harvesters and sensors have been systematically reviewed. Based on the fundamental wind energy harvesting principle, the windmill-based and aeroelastic harvesters are analyzed at first. On this basis, four kinds of energy harvesters for converting wind energy of different regions and scales have been compared and summar- ized, in which the electromagnetic energy harvester is a CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy and Sensor, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China. E-mail: czhang@binn.cas.cn b School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China c School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China d Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 23929–23944 | 23929 Published on 11 November 2020. Downloaded by National Chung Hsing University on 3/7/2023 2:33:59 PM. View Article Online View Journal | View Issue