Periodic Reporting for period 4 - HARVESTORE (Energy HarveStorers for Powering the Internet of Things)
Période du rapport: 2023-06-01 au 2024-05-31
The internet of things will revolutionise the way in which we interact with the world around us: sensors of temperature, presence, traffic density will measure data and communicate to a control unit for decision-making. Autonomous actions for process optimization, intervention, environmental safeguard will be taken without human intervention.
IoT is an universe in fast expansion. A countless number of applications can be imagined: smart cities, remote health care, automated production lines…. We expect 27 billion devices to be installed by 2025, but how will they be powered? Batteries are bulky and environmentally unfriendly, thus strongly limiting the possibility of device miniaturization, at the same time posing serious problems of sustainability. Embracing the IoT in our lives will require the advent of a new generation of portable power sources. For this, the project HarveStore aims to introduce a family of micro-energy sources (micro-Harvestorers) which will be autonomous, rechargeable and will offer high specific power for full integration with the nodes of the future IoT. The micro-Harvestorers will work on two steps: energy harvesting from ubiquitous heat and light and energy storage in the form of a fuel or of electric charge. Such two steps will be carried out at the same time and the total footprint of the device will not exceed 1 cm3. Harvestore will provide power on your fingertip.
The scientific and technological foundations of the project are related to the highly advanced concepts of Nanoioncs and Iontronics, for which new materials can be designed ad-hoc by taking advantage of local effects at the nanoscale. This way, surprising properties of fast conduction and high storage capacity can be obtained. The concepts behind Nanoionics and Iontronics have already been proven by advanced research experiments and, with HarveStore, we want to feed them into mainstream technology by taking advantage of silicon microfabrication techniques. Silicon ensures superior manufacturability, cost-effectiveness and the possibility to host dense structures in a seamless architecture; all in an environmentally friendly material. Silicon is the champion to bring micro and nano technologies to the economy of scale and is therefore the material of choice for the support of the micro-Harvestorers.
IoT is an universe in fast expansion. A countless number of applications can be imagined: smart cities, remote health care, automated production lines…. We expect 27 billion devices to be installed by 2025, but how will they be powered? Batteries are bulky and environmentally unfriendly, thus strongly limiting the possibility of device miniaturization, at the same time posing serious problems of sustainability. Embracing the IoT in our lives will require the advent of a new generation of portable power sources. For this, the project HarveStore aims to introduce a family of micro-energy sources (micro-Harvestorers) which will be autonomous, rechargeable and will offer high specific power for full integration with the nodes of the future IoT. The micro-Harvestorers will work on two steps: energy harvesting from ubiquitous heat and light and energy storage in the form of a fuel or of electric charge. Such two steps will be carried out at the same time and the total footprint of the device will not exceed 1 cm3. Harvestore will provide power on your fingertip.
The scientific and technological foundations of the project are related to the highly advanced concepts of Nanoioncs and Iontronics, for which new materials can be designed ad-hoc by taking advantage of local effects at the nanoscale. This way, surprising properties of fast conduction and high storage capacity can be obtained. The concepts behind Nanoionics and Iontronics have already been proven by advanced research experiments and, with HarveStore, we want to feed them into mainstream technology by taking advantage of silicon microfabrication techniques. Silicon ensures superior manufacturability, cost-effectiveness and the possibility to host dense structures in a seamless architecture; all in an environmentally friendly material. Silicon is the champion to bring micro and nano technologies to the economy of scale and is therefore the material of choice for the support of the micro-Harvestorers.
The HarveStore project led to the development of a revolutionary battery technology, which does not rely on Li and other scarce elements and offers unprecedented performance and safety at high temperatures. These batteries (high-temperature oxygen ion batteries) are recheargeable and can operate for thousands of cycles in harsh environments, becoming the natural choice for powering IoT devices for industrial applications.
Besides, the proof of concept for a number of new energy harvesting and storage microsystems has been achieved, including a a new generation thermoelectric device based on abundant oxide materials, a new Li-based storage system and a high-temperature photovoltaic cell. Integration of these micropower sources in real IoT devices has been carried out, testifying the successful impact of the project.
The results of the project have been presented in over 150 scientific conferences and fairs, and over 40 scientific paper. One patent has been granted.
Besides, the proof of concept for a number of new energy harvesting and storage microsystems has been achieved, including a a new generation thermoelectric device based on abundant oxide materials, a new Li-based storage system and a high-temperature photovoltaic cell. Integration of these micropower sources in real IoT devices has been carried out, testifying the successful impact of the project.
The results of the project have been presented in over 150 scientific conferences and fairs, and over 40 scientific paper. One patent has been granted.
The HarveStore has delved into ground-breaking concepts from Iontronics and Nanoioncs to build up a radically new family of micro-energy devices, bringing interface-dominated nanomaterial one step closer to real applications. The development of a completeley new battery chemistry, which is resilient to harsh conditions and does not rely on lithium and cobalt, represents a major milestone with profound potential impact on EU energy politics. Application of this technology for the industrial internet of things is foreseeable and part of the HarveStore working group has teamed up again for and EIC Transition project in order to further develop this possibility.
Besides, , the consortium has set out new theoretical approaches and experimental tools for fundamental studies in the field of ion conductivity. For example, unique isotope-exchange raman spectroscopy (IERS) has been develop to follow oxygen incorporation in oxide fuel cell materials, with unique time and space resolution. Isotope-exchange atom probe tomography has been set as a new tool for studying grain boundary effects in oxygen kinetics. The results achieved provide foundations for further developments in the field, of hydrogen, energy storage and conversion, allowing the implementation of new green technologies such as solid oxide fuel cells and solid-state batteries.
Besides, , the consortium has set out new theoretical approaches and experimental tools for fundamental studies in the field of ion conductivity. For example, unique isotope-exchange raman spectroscopy (IERS) has been develop to follow oxygen incorporation in oxide fuel cell materials, with unique time and space resolution. Isotope-exchange atom probe tomography has been set as a new tool for studying grain boundary effects in oxygen kinetics. The results achieved provide foundations for further developments in the field, of hydrogen, energy storage and conversion, allowing the implementation of new green technologies such as solid oxide fuel cells and solid-state batteries.