Harvesting Energy from Human Activity: Ferroelectric Energy Harvesters for Portable, Implantable, and Biomedical Electronics

Energy harvesters based on ferroelectric materials, which are capable of converting mechanical and thermal energies into electric power, have drawn unprecedented attention in both academic and industrial fields because of their great potential in harvesting human-activity-induced and other energies of the human body to drive low-power, personal, portable, and implantable electronics. Based on previous works that uncovered the features of advanced materials and the nanotechnologies for the fabrication of ferroelectric generators, we emphasize the potential of ferroelectric energy harvesters in biomedical applications, with not only traditional ferroelectrics but also newly developed ferroelectric biomaterials. In addition, the latest representative integration schemes of hybrid generators with ferroelectric materials are outlined, which could markedly extend the functions of energy harvesters, especially for implantable and biomedical applications.