Korean researchers reveal pair of breakthroughs: Vibration-amplifying metamaterials and room-temperature 2-D skyrmions

Picture this: You’re walking down a busy city street. With each step, the sidewalk beneath your feet captures the energy of your footfall. Nearby, a skyscraper’s windows glimmer, not just with sunlight, but with nanoscale generators converting wind vibrations into electricity. Meanwhile, the roads, covered in piezoelectric crystals, translate vibrations from passing vehicles into electricity.

While such a scenario remains science fiction — at least in its scope — researchers have worked for decades to translate wasted energy into a resource. Examples include pacemakers that capture energy from respiratory movements to solar panels and wind turbines.

KRISS’s vibration amplification advance

Some of the latest to do so are engineers at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) who have developed a metamaterial that traps and amplifies micro-vibrations, resulting in a significant vibration amplification.

A separate energy advance

A separate group of KRISS researchers have announced an advance in the field of energy-efficient computing and data storage. They have successfully created and controlled skyrmions — nanoscale spin structures — in two-dimensional materials at room temperature. In a press release, the researchers tease the possibility of room-temperature quantum computers thanks to the development.

Last year, KRISS scientists announced the first transistor capable of controlling skyrmions.

Harnessing micro-vibrations for power generation

In terms of the energy harvesting technology advance, KRISS announced that its newly developed metamaterial, roughly the size of an adult’s palm, can trap and amplify micro-vibrations by more than 45 times within its structure. The researchers report that this substantial amplification allows for the generation of large-scale electrical power using a relatively small number of piezoelectric elements.

The scientists claim that their approach can generate more than four times more electricity per unit area than conventional technologies. In addition, the metamaterial’s thin, flat structure makes it highly adaptable, allowing it to be easily attached to various vibrating surfaces. This versatility opens up an array of potential applications, from IoT-based damage-detection sensors on large structures like bridges and high-rise buildings to small biosensors for monitoring individual health conditions.

In a press release, Senior Researcher Lee Hyung Jin of KRISS’s Acoustics, Ultrasound, and Vibration Metrology Group underscored the uniqueness of their approach, stating it’s “the first in the world to successfully accumulate and amplify vibrations using a surface metamaterial that temporarily traps vibrations.”