MEMS-based energy scavengers: journey and future

Macro to nanoscale energy scavengers is emerging as a promising solution to tackle the problems of energy shortage caused due to increasing world population and limited availability of energy resources. The capability of the miniaturized scavengers to harvest ambient energy like vibrations, mechanical motions, and body motions makes them an efficient alternative to clean energy solutions. This paper reviews the works done in the field of piezoelectric and triboelectric energy scavengers, the authors briefly described different types of scavengers, recent state-of-the-art designs, operating modes, performance comparisons, and future scope considering critical evaluation which can help the researchers to decide their work approach in the field of energy scavenging. The authors also speculate on how future advances in 3D printing technology and textile base energy scavenging could aid in the creation of wearable electronics. Energy scavengers will surely replace many energy sources in the coming future and will be proven to be a trailblazing method in the field of environment-friendly energy generation.